Univ,  of  III.  Library 

51 
7 3? 


■*  ■ 


fit 


s%< 


■mfM 


mms 


>;#  : 


f:  m 


THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


From  the  collection  of 
Julius  Doerner,  Chicago 
Purchased,  1918* 


* a,  *//$ /s-z-  * //> 

h 

THE  PREVENTION  AND 
CURE  OF  OLD  AGE 


BY 

ELEANOR  KIRK 

AUTHOR  OF 

“ Influence  of  the  Zodiac  upon  Human  Life,”  “ Libra,” 
“ Perpetual  Youth,”  etc. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

ELEANOR  KIRK 

696  Greene  Avenue 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Copyright,  1899 
By  ELEANOR  KIRK 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I. — A Double  Bondage,  i 

II. — The  First  Steps, io 

III.  — Ego, 23 

IV.  — I Can  Because  I Am,  . . . .36 

V. — Respect  for  the  Old,  . . . .51 

VI. — Don’t  Be  Discouraged,  . . . .61 

VII. — Prevention, 70 

VIII. — Processes, 82 

IX. — In  Material  Things,  . . . .95 

X. — “Supplementary  Proceedings,”  . .111 

XI. — The  Ignorant  Word 123 

XII. — Duty, 137 

XIII. — Food  and  Exercise,  . . . .146 

Get  up  or  Get  Out! 157 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/preventioncureofOOames 


THE  PREVENTION  AND  CURE 
OF  OLD  AGE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A DOUBLE  BONDAGE. 

There  is  nothing  beautiful  about  old  age, 
because  there  is  nothing  beautiful  about  de- 
cay. There  isn’t  a single  person  on  this 
planet  who  wants  to  be  old,  and  there  isn’t 
a single  young  person  alive  who  desires  to  be 
the  companion  of  old  age.  Affection,  filial 
duty,  and  gratitude  may  lead  us  to  be  very 
tender  to  the  tottering  steps  and  weak  wills  of 
the  helpless  ones  under  our  care;  but,  how- 
ever kind  and  fond  we  may  be,  there  is 
always  a protest  in  our  souls  against  such  fail- 
ure of  the  life  forces.  We  weep  when  these 
dear  ones  yield  their  last  breath,  but  all  the 
same  we  experience  a sense  of  relief.  It  is 


2 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


inevitable.  They  are  in  bondage,  and  we  are 
bound  with  them.  Indeed,  for  all  these  ages 
the  human  race  has  been  doubly  bound — 
bound  to  be  the  daily  witnesses  of  decay  in 
others,  and  by  the  expectation  of  decay  for 
themselves. 

Old  age  has  never  had  a single  logical  leg 
to  stand  upon.  Because  it  has  been  con- 
sidered inevitable,  it  has  been  bolstered  up  by 
sentiment  and  trimmed  with  flowers  of  rhet- 
oric, much  on  the  same  principle  that  induces 
us  to  cover  the  coffins  of  our  friends  with  buds 
and  blossoms.  Death  is  hideous,  and  so  we 
draw  as  comforting  a curtain  over  the  scene 
as  nature  and  art  can  devise. 

Poets  have  sung  of  the  “ sweet  fading  out  of 
the  body,”  “the  gradual  and  beautiful  release 
of  the  spirit,”  while  striving  with  all  the 
power  they  possessed  to  delay  the  beautiful 
release  for  themselves.  As  long  as  death  had 
to  be,  versification  was  as  good  a setting  for  it 
as  any  other ; and  like  the  boy  who  whistled 
when  he  passed  the  graveyard,  they  have 
rhymed  decay  and  cannot  stay,  and  fade  and 
shade,  and  die  and  sky,  in  the  vain  attempt  to 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


3 


keep  tip  their  courage.  If  all  the  old-age  and 
death  poems  and  death  essays  were  taken  out 
of  the  language,  the  books  remaining  in  our 
libraries  to  be  dusted  would  be  perceptibly 
diminished,  to  the  great  good  of  all  con- 
cerned, housekeepers  included. 

This  treatment  of  negative  and  undesirable 
conditions  has  been  called  “making  the  best 
of  things,”  “making  the  best  of  a bad  bar- 
gain,” “submitting  to  the  inevitable”;  and 
every  fresh  endeavor  to  become  reconciled 
to  them  has  added  to  the  burden  of  our 
wretchedness.  This  belief  in  the  necessity  of 
sickness,  old  age,  poverty,  and  death  rolled 
up  and  rolled  up  until  it  became  so  large  and 
so  unwieldy  that  in  the  effort  to  continue 
turning  over  it  has  crumbled  here  and  there, 
leaving  little  heaps  of  dirt  for  spiritual  geolo- 
gists to  speculate  about.  Their  investigations 
started  a new  school,  and  this  school  has  di- 
vided into  scores  of  classes,  every  one  of  them 
intent  upon  demolishing  this  colossal  bundle 
of  error.  It  is  still  rolling  by  the  force  of  its 
own  momentum,  but  the  stones  of  truth  which 
are  constantly  being  fired  into  it  will  ultimate- 


4 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


ly  destroy  it.  Every  day  the  blows  are  more 
efficient  because  the  aim  is  better,  and  because 
a few  thinkers  are  tireless  in  this  work  of 
bombardment. 

Among  the  rest  of  the  things  which  we 
have  been  told  to  do  is  the  impossible  one  of 
“growing  old  gracefully.”  This  phrase  has 
doubtless  been  incorporated  into  almost  every 
language  under  the  sun ; here  was  more 
whistling  in  passing  the  graveyard.  It  gave 
the  decaying  man  or  woman  a little  diversion 
in  the  matter  of  buying  silver-headed  canes, 
and  in  selecting  the  shawl  or  the  gown  which 
would  best  harmonize  with  the  lustreless  eyes 
and  faded  cheeks.  It  said  to  them : “ Make 
yourself  as  contented  as  you  can  in  exter- 
nals. True,  you  must  grow  old  and  older 
until  you  sink  into  the  grave.  You  have 
plenty  of  company,  so  brace  up  and  think  as 
little  about  the  disgusting  process  as  possible. 
Show  your  superiority  to  the  situation  by 
growing  old  gracefully.” 

Now,  who  ever  saw  anybody  grow  old 
gracefully?  We  have  seen  our  friends  submit 
graciously  and  uncomplainingly — more’s  the 


CURE  OP  OLD  AGE. 


5 


pity — to  what  they  believed  they  could  not 
help.  They  have  called  it  God’s  will,  as  they 
have  limped  and  tottered  toward  the  grave; 
but  it  hasn’t  been  a pretty  sight,  a comforting 
sight,  a graceful  process.  We  turn  our  faces 
away  in  sorrow.  They  don’t  like  it,  and  we 
cannot  bear  to  behold  it  in  others  or  anticipate 
it  for  ourselves.  And  this  failing  and  fading 
and  suffering  and  dying  is  God’s  will — the  fiat 
of  a loving  Father.  What  an  awful  accusa- 
tion to  bring  against  the  All-Good,  and  how 
strange  that  such  a falsehood  could  have  been 
for  ages  perpetuated ! 

A great  many  people  argue  that  old  age 
must  be  a natural  process,  and  point  to  ex- 
ternal nature  for  their  proof.  The  flowers, 
they  tell  us,  bud,  blossom,  and  fall  to  pieces, 
the  trees  put  forth  their  leaves,  and  after  a 
brief  space  the  wind  sighs  through  bare 
branches.  The  grass  withers,  and  fruit  hav- 
ing come  to  maturity  decays. 

Well,  what  if  they  do?  Man  is  a living 
soul,  made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
and  trees  and  grass  and  fruit  and  sunshine 
and  flowers  are  for  his  delectation.  He  is  the 


6 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


absolute  owner  and  master  of  these  things. 
He  always  has  been  “ monarch  of  all  he  sur- 
veyed,” and  all  the  time  has  walked  the  earth 
like  a beggar.  He  has  chained  the  lightning 
and  made  the  earth  produce  a million  things 
that  would  once  have  been  considered  in  the 
light  of  miracles,  and  yet  he  is  not  conscious 
of  his  power  and  supremacy.  The  unit  of 
nature  was  his  to  start  with,  but  by  the  force 
of  his  God-will  and  intelligence  — both  en- 
tirely unrecognized  — he  has  added  so  many 
ciphers  to  it  as  literally  to  have  created  a 
new  heaven  and  a new  earth.  And  still  he  is 
ignorant  and  goes  travelling  toward  the  ceme- 
tery, because  the  pace  has  been  set  for  him 
by  a few  prehistoric  idiots. 

The  stories  of  decay  and  death  are  the  first 
things  a child  makes  acquaintance  with. 
These  dismal  impressions  are  deepened  and 
strengthened  as  the  years  go  by,  and  a note  of 
anguish  runs  through  every  moment  of  exist- 
ence, no  matter  what  the  apparent  or  an- 
ticipated happiness.  It  sings  these  minoi; 
strains,  “Old  age  is  approaching,”  and  “Man 
is  of  few  days  and  full  of  trouble.” 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


7 


Is  it  any  wonder  that  every  old  negative 
thing  that  we  have  no  use  or  wish  for  seems 
to  be  in  universal  operation? 

Personally  I find  great  comfort  and  inspi- 
ration in  certain  parts  of  the  Bible.  But  I 
have  never  had  any  patience  with  those  old 
fogies  who  talked  about  all  flesh  being  grass, 
and  the  few  days  full  of  trouble.  We  cannot 
deny  the  last  statement,  but  who  is  respon- 
sible for  the  brevity  of  the  hours  and  the 
misery  that  fills  them?  Why,  man  himself; 
but  these  ancient  scribes  had  no  hint  of  this 
truth.  Once  in  a while  it  dawned  upon  David, 
and  then  he  would  dance  a gig  and  chant  the 
psalms  of  joy  that  have  vibrated  all  along 
the  ages.  At  other  times  he  would  declare 
that  he  was  “a  pelican  of  the  wilderness,”  and 
“like  an  owl  of  the  desert,”  and  all  “because 
of  thy  indignation  and  thy  wrath,  for  thou 
hast  lifted  me  up  and  cast  me  down.” 

Contrast  this  pessimistic  doggerel  with  the 
grandeur  and  glory  of  the  ninety-first  psalm : 
“ He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the 
Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of 
the  Almighty.” 


8 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


But  we  must  not  blame  our  old  friends  tod 
much.  The  pace  had  been  set  for  them  as  for 
Us,  and  they  knew  no  better  than  to  limp 
along  the  same  road  that  the  generations  be- 
fore them  had  travelled.  It  was  “ Thus  saith 
the  Lord,”  and  this  Lord  was  sitting  upon  a 
throne  somewhere  in  the  sky,  ready  to  be  pro- 
pitiated if  the  right  sort  of  a petition  was 
prayed  up  to  him.  This  was  the  prayer  of 
faith,  and  very  few  knew  how  to  formulate  it. 

So  in  those  days,  as  in  these  days,  there 
were  a great  many  more  failures  than  suc- 
cesses. The  prayer  that  did  the  work  was  the 
one  in  which  the  will  of  God  and  the  will  of 
the  individual  ego  were  one  and  the  same. 
The  “ Father  and  I are  one  ” prayer  always 
brought  results.  It  did  then;  it  does  now, 
and  always  will.  The  sublimest  experiences 
in  every  age  have  been  those  where  men  have 
realized  their  birthright  of  divinity.  We  find 
records  of  these  experiences  scattered  all 
along  the  way  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and 
we  find  such  examples  in  our  daily  intercourse 
with  our  friends.  These  states,  however,  are 
exceptional.  We  do  not  dwell  in  the  secret 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


9 


place  of  the  Most  High — the  highest  and 
grandest  thought  of  ourselves.  We  do  not 
“abide.”  No  more  did  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  this  is  why  they  were  supremely 
happy  at  one  time  and  ignorantly  miserable 
at  another.  They  believed  in  the  God  in 
themselves  one  day,  and  a God  in  the  sky 
another  day,  and  were  like  houses  divided 
against  themselves.  They  could  not  stand. 
And  so  they  sickened,  grew  old  and  foolish, 
and  died. 

This  is  exactly  what  is  the  matter  with  us; 
but  there  is  a way  out  of  all  these  negative 
conditions,  and  the  path  shall  be  made  plain. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  FIRST  STEPS. 

We  find  that  the  chief  cause  of  old  age  is 
ignorance  of  our  divine  inheritance.  This 
truth  should  be  ever  present  in  the  minds  of 
our  readers,  because  it  is  the  basic  truth  of 
life,  and  is  the  firm  foundation  of  everything 
that  ‘will  come  afterward. 

Now  for  the  prevention  of  old  age. 

How  is  it  to  be  accomplished? 

By  scientific  and  consequently  common- 
sense  methods. 

The  people  who  by  reason  of  the  title  are 
attracted  to  this  book  will  be  those  who  have 
commenced  to  be  anxious  about  their  personal 
appearance,  wrho  seem  to  be  expressing  the 
premonitory  symptoms  of  decay,  and  those 
who  are  well  started  on  their  reluctant  trip 
down-hill.  All  ages  will  be  represented  in 
this  audience. 


PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  II 


“ Personal  appearance?  ” 

How  much  is  contained  in  these  two  words. 
To  me  this  phrase  holds  the  most  sacred  of 
all  thoughts;  and  yet  the  average  woman, 
even  in  these  days  of  awakening,  is  afraid  and 
ashamed  to  admit  that  it  means  anything  to 
her.  She  may  have  her  little  complexion 
aids,  which  are  perfectly  legitimate  whether 
she  realizes  it  or  not ; but  she  will  keep  them 
locked  away  from  all  observers,  in  the  hope 
that  her  use  of  them  will  never  be  detected. 

Why  does  she  do  this? 

Because  of  the  protest  of  the  spirit  of  God 
within  her,  against  the  necessity  of  employing 
other  than  natural  means  in  the  preservation 
of  her  beauty.  Deep  down  in  her  soul  the 
spirit  is  ever  whispering  and  suggesting. 
These  suggestions  she  mistakes  for  vanity. 

Why  does  she? 

For  no  other  reason  than  that  the  whole 
human  race  has  been  educated  in  this  belief 
of  vanity  until  it  seems  to  have  become  incor- 
porated into  their  very  blood  and  bones. 

St.  Paul — bless  his  dear  heart!  he  didn’t 
know  everything — is  more  responsible  per- 


12 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


haps  than  any  other  person  for  imbuing  the 
feminine  mind  with  this  false  and  pernicious 
idea.  Paul  never  quite  recovered  from  Saul. 
That  was  the  trouble  with  him.  But  did  he  not 
do  wonders  in  the  short  time  between  his  con- 
version and  his  death?  And  if  he  had  known 
that  he  had  a right  to  life  right  here  on  this 
planet,  what  might  he  not  have  accomplished 
on  the  beautiful  and  aesthetic  side  of  exist- 
ence? Inmost  things  he  “knew  whereof  he 
spoke,”  but  in  regard  to  women  he  was  an 
out-and-out  ignoramus. 

Ministers  of  all  denominations  have  fol- 
lowed St.  Paul’s  lead  in  their  fulminations 
against  what  they  have  been  pleased  to  call 
the  vanity  of  woman.  But  she  hasn’t  “kept 
silence  in  the  churches,”  and  she  hasn’t  as  a 
rule  “obeyed  her  husband,”  and  she  has 
curled  her  hair  and  rigged  herself  out  in  what 
the  apostle  described  as  “gaudy  apparel.” 
Her  justice  and  artistic  sense  have  proved 
quite  superior  to  masculine  prejudice  and 
narrow  creeds,  and  we  find  that  the  very 
hardest  thing  to  kill  in  woman  is  her  love  of 
beauty. 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


13 


And  why? 

Because  all  beautiful  things  are  of  God. 

A lady  was  admiring  a lovely  gown  that 
had  just  been  sent  home,  and  her  mother,  an 
old-time  Presbyterian,  felt  it  necessary  to  rep- 
rimand her  for  her  vanity. 

“It  brings  the  tears  to  my  eyes,”  she  said, 
“ to  see  you  so  wedded  to  the  things  of  this 
world — you,  an  immortal  soul,  with  all  your 
Christian  responsibilities.” 

“ It  is  just  because  I am  an  immortal  soul 
that  I enjoy  these  things,”  the  daughter  re- 
plied. “Why,  mother,  there  isn’t  an  article 
in  this  gown  that  is  not  made  of  God’s  sub- 
stance, and  it  is  made  with  such  divine  taste 
that  I shall  feel  more  godly  than  usual  when 
I wear  it.” 

Of  course  this  was  the  most  awful  blas- 
phemy possible  to  conceive  of,  and  was  by  no 
means  easily  forgiven.  But  it  was  the  truth, 
and  one  we  should  never  lose  sight  of. 

The  word  God  is  often  on  the  lips  of  the 
people,  but  he  is  the  most  distant  of  all  their 
acquaintance.  He  rules  in  a heaven  beyond 
their  ken,  and  the  only  means  of  approach  to 


14 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


him  is  by  the  entreaty  of  the  prayer  of  faith. 
He  is  a monarch  in  a distant  part  of  the  uni- 
verse called  heaven,  and  his  children  are  all 
poverty-stricken  nobodies. 

The  very  opposite  of  this  is  true.  There  is 
no  place  where  God  is  not.  He  is  our  life, 
our  breath,  our  hearts,  our  brains.  He  is 
every  atom  and  every  molecule  of  us,  and 
there  is  not  a single  article  that  we  see,  wear, 
or  handle  that  is  not  made  of  the  substance  of 
God.  And  all  this  substance  is  ours  to  enjoy. 
When  we  are  ashamed  of  our  love  of  the 
beautiful,  we  are  ashamed  of  God. 

“Is  there  no  vanity  then  in  the  world?” 
some  one  will  ask. 

Much  less  than  people  have  generally  sup- 
posed. "When  a woman  puts  all  her  thoughts 
upon  the  fit  of  a gown,  the  lustre  of  her 
jewels,  and  the  furnishing  of  her  establish- 
ment, she  is  not  only  vain  but  selfish.  This 
is  very  different  from  the  appreciation  of 
beauty  for  beauty’s  sake,  or  God’s  sake. 

So  we  start  on  our  little  tour  together  with 
the  understanding  that  man  is  the  greatest 
thing  in  the  universe,  made  in  the  image  and 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


15 


likeness  of  God,  with  all  of  God’s  privileges. 
This  being  the  case  we  have  a right  to  beauty, 
health,  strength,  power,  riches,  and  eternal 
life.  All  these  possessions  are  actually  ours, 
and  the  only  reason  that  we  are  not  in  full  en- 
joyment of  them  is  because  we  have  not  taken 
them.  We  have  been  too  ignorant  to  claim 
our  birthright. 

A woman  is  seldom  activ  ely  aroused  to  a 
sense  of  her  danger  until  she  commences  to 
part  with  her  good  looks.  Then  her  misery  is 
acute.  She  has  seen  her  relatives  and  friends 
grow  old,  and  because  of  precedent  and  edu- 
cation she  has  been  sure  that  some  time  this 
horrible  change  must  come  to  her;  but  not 
yet.  Oh ! not  yet.  She  is  too  full  of  life. 
She  feels  as  young  as  she  ever  did — you  will 
hear  this  remark  made  at  ninety,  if  intelli- 
gence has  been  sufficiently  in  operation  to 
protect  the  intellect — and  now  what  can  she 
do?  What  means  can  be  employed  to  arrest 
the  appearance  of  this  creeping  decay?  It 
has  got  to  be — that  she  knows — but  how  can 
she  cover  up  the  trail  of  the  serpent?  The 
rouge  pot  and  the  powder  puff  come  in  here 


l6  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

with  the  woman  who  has  not  been  educated 
against  the  use  of  such  things,  but  there  is 
small  comfort  to  be  found  in  these  superficial 
dabs  and  dustings.  She  sees  through  them 
and  is  quite  sure  that  everybody  else  does. 
But  anything  is  better  than  this  strange  and 
awful  grandmotherly  expression  that  con- 
fronts her  every  time  she  looks  in  the  mirror. 
So  she  flies  from  one  external  medicament  to 
another,  and  hunts  about  for  tonics  and  reme- 
dies which  will  produce  plumpness,  or  which 
will  reduce  the  flesh  which  is  beginning  to  be 
so  troublesome  to  carry,  and  so  ugly  to  behold. 

This  picture  is  not  in  the  least  exaggerated. 
Very  few  women  have  reached  the  age  of 
thirty-five  without  passing  through  these  cru- 
cial experiences. 

Some  persons  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
a cast-iron  creed,  and  who  consider  it  almost 
if  not  quite  the  unpardonable  sin  to  endeavor 
by  any  means  to  enhance  one’s  beauty,  often 
smile  sardonically  and  comment  most  unkindly 
upon  such  covering-up  efforts  on  the  part  of 
their  troubled  sisters.  But  you  may  find  these 
critics  very  particular  and  uncompromising 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


17 


about  the  shape  of  a hat,  the  fit  of  a glove,  or 
the  trimming  of  a gown.  What  they  call 
“vanity”  shows  itself  in  a different  form,  but 
it  is  not  vanity  any  more  than  the  endeavor  to 
plump  one’s  cheeks  or  improve  one’s  com- 
plexion is  vanity.  It  is  the  protest  of  the 
God  within  themselves  against  ugliness  and 
decay. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  understand  that 
the  desire  for  the  retention  of  good  looks,  for 
the  expression  of  beauty,  is  a thoroughly  legiti- 
mate one.  It  is  God-like,  God-born,  and  has 
no  other  origin. 

The  partial  realization  of  this  is  the  first  step 
toward  either  the  prevention  or  the  cure  of 
old  age. 

I say  “ partial  ” because  it  is  a very  excep- 
tional thing  when  this  thought  is  grasped  at  its 
first  presentation.  It  has  to  be  taken  hold  of 
intellectually  and  so  held  in  mind  by  day  and 
by  night  that  after  a while  it  becomes  a part 
of  one.  It  becomes  incorporated  into  the  very 
marrow  of  the  bones.  Intellectual  knowledge 
grows  into  intelligent  assimilation,  and  the 
day  comes  sooner  or  later  when  one  to  a 


1 8 THE  PREVENTION  AND 

saving  extent  comprehends  his  or  her  position 
in  the  universe. 

Do  not  misunderstand  here.  There  are  those 
who  attain  to  this  realization  in  a flash,  “ the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,”  but  it  is  not  usual.  It 
may  be  that  such  instantaneous  revelation  may 
come  to  you,  to  you,  or  to  you.  If  so,  half  the 
battle  is  won.  The  first  step  is  the  long  step, 
and  if  it  can  be  taken  with  “ the  seven-leagued 
boots  ” of  a quick  intelligence,  so  much  the 
better. 

But  do  not  be  discouraged  if  this  conscious- 
ness of  your  right  to  be  free  and  happy  comes 
slowly.  It  surely  will  come  if  you  are  atten- 
tive and  conscientious,  and  if  you  listen  to  the 
inner  voice  which  is  the  voice  of  God. 

“We  hear  a great  deal  about  the  new 
thought,  and  the  necessity  of  thinking  right 
thoughts,”  an  earnest  student  writes,  “and 
if  you  will  only  tell  me  what  to  think  and 
how  to  think  it,  I shall  be  the  most  grateful 
creature  upon  earth.  There  seems  to  be  a 
deep  and  oiled  groove  in  me  through  which 
ten  thousand  thoughts  a minute  slip  along 
— some  good  ones  and  some  bad  ones,  but 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


19 


they  certainly  appear  to  be  beyond  my  con- 
trol.” 

This  is  the  common  experience,  and  the  re- 
sult is  discouraging.  It  is  a sort  of  mental 
chaos,  but  it  is  impossible  for  more  than  one 
thought  to  occupy  the  mind  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, to  say  nothing  of  ten  thousand.  It  is 
either  a kind  thought  or  an  unkind  thought, 
a pure  or  an  impure  thought,  a valuable  or  a 
no-account  thought. 

The  error  thought  must  be  banished,  and 
the  only  way  on  earth  to  do  this  is  to  put  a 
good  thought  in  its  place.  The  student  must 
learn  to  do  this  immediately,  and  here  is  the 
pivot  upon  which  everything  turns. 

Every  thought  of  sickness,  sorrow,  old  age, 
poverty,  or  death  is  an  error  thought.  Every 
envious,  jealous,  or  suspicious  thought  is  an 
error  thought,  and  to  harbor  them  is  to  live 
in  a deadly  and  dying  condition.  These 
are  the  things  that  produce  the  burdens  and 
penalties  that  weigh  us  down  to  the  earth 

with  sorrow  and  suffering.  We  sow  and 
we  reap.  When  we  stop  scattering  error 
seeds  and  substitute  good  seed  we  shall  reap 


20 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


the  joys  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  not  till 
then. 

Suppose  one  wakes  in  the  morning  with  a 
feeling  of  depression,  or  what  are  supposed  to 
be  the  premonitory  symptoms  of  illness.  The 
first  thought  with  those  who  have  not  studied 
on  these  lines  will  be:  “Oh,  dear!  I’m  just 
as  blue  as  I can  be,”  or,  “Another  cold  is 
coming  on,  and  I have  only  just  got  over  the 
last  one.” 

The  wise  and  faithful  student  will,  instead 
of  these  negative  statements,  declare : 

“ Nothing  can  induce  me  to  listen  to  this 
nonsense.  I am  in  the  best  of  spirits.  I am 
well  and  strong  and  happy.  I am  full  of  di- 
vine vigor.  I refuse  utterly  to  hear  or  to  be 
dominated  by  a single  negative  suggestion.  I 
am  the  child  of  freedom,  and  the  God  in  my- 
self makes  it  possible  for  me  to  declare  my 
dominion  over  all  things.” 

It  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  for  one  to 
make  these  strong  and  true  affirmations  with- 
out realizing  the  power  of  the  spirit.  This 
power  is  absolute,  and  our  trust  in  it  will  lead 
us  “ beside  the  still  waters  ” and  keep  us  in  a 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


21 


state  of  harmony  inconceivable  to  those  who 
live  simply  upon  the  surface  of  life. 

“ Keep  us?” 

Yes,  if  we  keep  it.  The  spirit  of  truth 
never  pushes,  never  intrudes,  but  stands  ready 
to  honor  every  demand  made  upon  it. 

We  are  finding  out  in  these  days  that  there 
is  something  for  us  to  do,  and  a very  intelli- 
gent minority  of  the  human  family  has  discov- 
ered that  this  work  must  be  done  now.  There 
can  be  no  more  postponing,  no  more  daw- 
dling. Neither  philosophy  nor  religion  has 
saved  the  world  from  suffering.  Science 
must. 

The  substitution  of  a pleasant  for  an  un- 
pleasant thought  is  scientific.  To  banish  a 
tear  and  put  a smile  in  its  place  is  scientific. 
To  think  well  of  a person  of  whom  one  has 
been  thinking  evil  is  scientific.  To  steadfast- 
ly refuse  to  be  associated  with  inharmony  of 
any  description  is  scientific. 

Why  are  these  things  scientific? 

Because  the  person  is  working  with  the 
creative  principle  which  always  builds  up  and 
never  tears  down.  One  fit  of  temper,  one 


22  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

quarrel  will  destroy  more  tissue  than  can  be 
made  up  in  a week.  Material  science,  now  the 
beautiful  helpmeet  and  corroborator  of  mental 
science,  has  proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
most  critical  intellects  that  anger  and  fear  and 
worry  poison  the  blood,  and  each  emotion 
makes  use  of  its  own  special  means  in  pro- 
moting decay. 

So  we  find  we  cannot  worry  and  keep  young. 
We  cannot  hate  our  neighbor  without  having 
a picture  of  that  hatred  appear  on  our  faces. 

Think  of  that ! 

Add  to  this  the  fact  that  when  we  keep  on 
hating  we  are  lavishly  sowing  the  seeds  of 
death. 

This  is  true  of  all  the  other  error  emotions, 
and  is  it  any  wonder  that  there  are  so  many 
cemeteries  and  so  many  old  and  dying  people? 


CHAPTER  III. 


EGO. 

“ He  who  fights  and  runs  away. 

Will  live  to  fight  another  day.” 

This  is  an  old  and  a very  homely  couplet, 
but  it  holds  a great  and  pregnant  truth. 
Somewhere,  some  time,  the  fight  has  got  to  be 
fought  out,  and  it  is  my  opinion,  from  an  ex- 
tended observation  and  considerable  experi- 
ence, that  the  longer  it  is  delayed  the  harder 
it  is. 

This  chapter  commences  with  the  biggest 
thing  in  the  universe — the  immortal,  the  om- 
nipotent, omnipresent,  omniscient  ego — the  I. 

The  / is  the  only  power  that  ever  delivered 
us  from  bondage  of  any  sort,  and  is  the  only 
force  that  will  ever  keep  us  out  of  the  clutches 
of  old  age.  The  God  in  the  sky  hasn’t  done  it. 
Our  friends  haven’t  helped  in  any  direction, 
for  they  are  all  dying  with  us.  Not  even 


24 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


one  little  lift  have  we  had  from  anybody  in 
this  matter, — and  as  we  think  it  over,  who 
has  helped  us  out  of  the  most  of  our  scrapes? 
Those  who  loved  us  have  in  many  cases  hon- 
estly tried  to  bring  us  peace  and  happiness,  but 
as  they  were  out  at  the  elbows  in  such  ways 
themselves,  their  service  has  chiefly  consisted 
in  proving  that  we  were  no  worse  off  than 
themselves.  A kindred  misery  never  helped 
to  alleviate  a single  sorrow.  And  we  have  all 
been  very  close  relatives  in  unhappiness. 

Who  has  helped  us?  We  recall  many  a cru- 
cial experience  from  which  we  have  emerged, 
if  not  triumphantly,  at  least  with  some  credit 
to  ourselves.  It  seems  as  if  we  must  have 
had  outside  aid.  “The  doctor  did  this,” 
we  tell  ourselves,  and  “this  friend  loaned 
a little  money  to  tide  over  a rough  spot. 
We  couldn’t  have  pulled  through  without 
that  money.” 

Perhaps  not,  but  what  made  it  possible  for 
you  to  receive  this  loan  or  gift? 

Did  you  ever  think  of  that? 

Perhaps  the  friend  arrived  at  the  opportune 
moment  and  offered  the  financial  help.  Was 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


2 5 


it  so  in  your  case  ? If  so,  yours  is  an  excep- 
tional one.  You  know  that  such  things  seldom 
occur,  and  when  they  do  we  are  apt  in  our 
ignorance  to  cry  “ Miracle ! miracle ! ” But 
this  proves  the  almighty  power  of  the  I bet- 
ter than  any  other  example  that  could  be 
given.  If  this  has  happened  to  you  it  is  proof 
positive  that  for  some  reason  you  are  ahead  of 
your  kind.  It  shows  that  the  power  of  attrac- 
tion, the  creative  power,  is  far  stronger  with 
you  than  with  others.  By  means  of  this  force 
of  which  you  were  entirely  unaware,  you  drew 
this  friend  to  your  side  to  supply  the  demand 
you  had  unconsciously  sent  out  into  the  uni- 
verse. He  or  she  caught  the  vibration  and 
you  were  relieved  from  your  necessity.  But 
you  did  it  yourself.  The  I of  you  was  the 
agent,  actor,  and  doer.  In  this  calculation  the 
money  was  little  more  than  a secondary  con- 
sideration, although  it  meant  so  much  to  you. 

In  most  instances  where  assistance  of  any 
kind  is  necessary,  one  is  compelled  to  ask  for  it 
by  letter  or  by  personal  interview.  Is  this  not 
your  work  ? When  you  constructed  the  com- 
munication which  you  hoped  would  postpone 


26 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


the  foreclosure  of  that  mortgage  or  would  lift 
it  entirely,  did  you  not  use  every  argument 
that  your  ingenuity  could  suggest  to  touch  the 
vibrating  note  in  the  one  to  whom  you  ap- 
pealed? In  other  words,  you  put  yourself  in 
it,  the  fervent,  beautiful,  glorious  I.  And  you 
were  lifted  out  of  this  slough  of  despond  by 
the  God  within  yourself. 

Somebody  will  say  right  here : “ But  what 
of  the  answers  to  such  distressing  calls  that 
are  not  favorable  ? I have  written  such  letters 
and  they  brought  me  nothing.  I was  either 
ignored  or  insulted.” 

Such  failure  may  be  due  to  poor  judgment, 
lack  of  tact,  which  shows  the  absence  of  the 
attracting  power  more  plainly  perhaps  than 
anything  else,  or  a lack  of  faith.  Either  one 
of  these  will  defeat  the  most  praiseworthy  ob- 
ject in  the  world.  Good  judgment  selects  the 
right  man  or  right  woman  to  whom  to  say  the 
right  word.  Tact  says  it,  and  faith  gets  it. 

We  have  all  of  us  heard  more  or  less  talk 
ever  since  we  can  remember  about  magnetism. 
We  have  noticed  that  some  persons  draw  us 
and  some  repel  us.  We  like  to  be  in  this 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


27 


man’s  society,  and  we  cannot  bear  to  be  in 
the  same  room  with  that  one.  Good  judg- 
ment would  assure  us  of  the  foolishness  of  ask- 
ing a favor  of  a person  who  inspired  such  a 
feeling.  We  are  not  magnetically  related  to 
each  other,  and  this  is  no  discredit  to  either  of 
us.  But  it  is  a waste  of  time  and  energy  to 
endeavor  to  vibrate  in  their  atmosphere.  All 
these  things  are  quickly  discerned  by  the  wise 
ones,  but  wisdom  is  rare,  and  so  we  go  on 
making  mistakes.  In  other  words,  we  strive 
to  take,  and  take  amiss.  This  is  all  a part 
of  our  education,  if  we  will  have  it  so.  It  is 
called  by  some  the  school  of  discipline  and 
God’s  way  of  dealing  with  his  children.  The 
fact  is,  it  is  simply  our  ignorant  way  of  doing 
things.  Of  the  true  God  we  know  nothing, 
and  so  we  bump  our  heads  and  stub  our  toes 
against  everything  that  seems  to  be  in  our 
way,  and  when  there  is  no  obstacle  or  impedi- 
ment in  sight,  we  are  sure  to  scare  up  some 
hobgoblin  that  is  worse  than  anything  we  have 
had  before. 

That  people  do  learn  by  these  bumps  and 
tumbles  is  undoubtedly  true — some  people — 


28 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


the  majority,  perhaps.  But  there  are  many 
others — we  see  them  every  day  and  sometimes 
wonder  what  excuse  there  could  have  been 
for  their  birth  and  continued  existence — who 
never  appear  to  learn  anything.  They  simply 
encumber  the  earth  and  make  trouble  for 
everybody  who  comes  into  their  atmosphere. 

What  of  these? 

They  are  densely  ignorant,  spiritually  blind, 
deaf  and  dumb.  Their  brothers  and  sisters 
who  slip  and  slide  and  fall  and  pick  themselves 
up  again  have  some  knowledge  of  their  divine 
origin,  though  this  knowledge  may  be  an  un- 
conscious possession.  They  do  not  make  in- 
telligent use  of  it  because  they  do  not  know 
that  it  is  theirs,  but  it  often  moves  them  to 
good  and  even  great  issues.  These  are  they 
who  learn  on  this  plane  by  their  mistakes. 

We  find  that  unconscious  intelligence  is 
preferable  to  no  intelligence. 

The  man  who  fights  and  runs  away,  or  sits 
weakly  down  and  deplores  his  hard  luck,  will 
certainly  live  to  fight  another  day,  but  his  oc- 
casional attempts  at  overcoming  will  surely 
stand  him  in  good  stead.  The  other  fellow 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


29 


has  got  to  learn  also.  Whatever  the  seeming, 
man  is  potentially  perfect,  and  potentiality 
must  become  reality  sooner  or  later.  We 
may  delay  this  process  indefinitely.  There  is 
time  enough  even  for  the  slowest  intelligence. 

This  thought  cannot  fail  to  comfort  those 
whose  lives  have  been  greatly  disquieted  by 
contact  with  these  mistaken  souls.  God  did 
not  create  such  sinners,  so-called,  for  the  es- 
pecial development  and  spiritual  salvation  of 
their  relatives.  This  is  a tremendous  fallacy, 
but  one  that  has  obtained  through  all  the  ages. 
It  is  clear  gain,  however,  if  one  realizes  de- 
velopment by  such  means.  God  is  certainly  in 
it,  but  not  at  all  in  the  way  that  has  been  so 
ignorantly  believed.  The  God  in  the  person, 
the  supreme  omnipotent  /,  has  in  such  in- 
stances risen  to  the  occasion,  and  for  the  time 
being  at  least  dominated  the  adversary. 

This  is  the  God  that  does  the  work  at  all 
times. 

The  demand  now  is  for  conscious  growth, 
real  God  growth,  and  this  demand  is  a per- 
fectly possible  and  legitimate  one.  It  is  mak- 
ing itself  powerfully  felt  all  over  the  earth, 


3° 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


and  the  supply  is  meeting  it  just  as  supply 
always  does  meet  the  intelligent  determina- 
tion to  have. 


The  Ego?  The  I? 

What  must  be  done  to  bring  the  I into  the 
working  consciousness  of  the  individual  ? 

It  has  lain  dormant,  been  ignored  and  mis- 
understood long  enough.  Ignorance  con- 
cerning it  has  been  the  cause  of  all  the  sor- 
row and  suffering  that  have  ever  come  to 
man. 

When  we  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  a 
language,  an  art,  a science,  what  do  we  do? 
We  study  it,  we  devote  our  time  and  atten- 
tion to  it.  We  concentrate  upon  it,  and  day 
by  day  we  become  more  and  more  familiar 
with  our  subject,  and  after  a while  proficiency 
crowns  our  efforts  and  we  look  upon  our  work 
and  say  it  is  good.  If  it  is  good  we  know  it  is 
good,  although  still  loath  to  make  such  admis- 
sion save  to  ourselves  in  the  privacy  of  our 
own  apartments.  We  have  called  this  natural 
modesty  and  a proper  delicacy,  when  it  has 
been  no  such  thing.  On  the  same  principle 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


31 


we  have  spoken  slightingly  of  our  poem,  our 
pie,  our  lecture,  our  gown,  our  housekeeping, 
all  the  time  knowing  in  our  inmost  hearts  that 
these  things  were  hard  to  beat. 

In  this  manner  the  / has  been  entirely 
ignored,  and  the  strangest  part  of  it  is  that  it 
has  usually  been  done  in  the  name  of  God, 
the  mighty  creative  Ego.  The  race  has  been 
taught  that  boasting  and  vanity  were  dis- 
pleasing to  God,  and  that  a proper  apprecia- 
tion of  one’s  work  was  an  offence  to  him.  To 
praise  another’s  efforts  was,  on  the  contrary, 
pleasing  to  Deity. 

This  is  the  result  of  a false  education  and 
an  ignorant  precedent,  and  now  at  the  close  of 
this  wonderful  cycle  some  of  us  begin  to  real- 
ize that  a proper  education  must  usurp  the 
fallacious  one  which  has  wrought  so  much 
misery  and  strewn  this  lovely  green  earth 
with  so  many  wrecks. 

One  time  at  a woman’s  club  meeting  a very 
sweet  little  lady  was  unexpectedly  called  upon 
to  make  a few  remarks.  It  was  plain  to  see 
that  this  was  a new  and  a very  embarrassing 
position;  but  she  rose,  and,  after  a moment’s 


32 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


pause,  began  in  this  way : “ Mrs.  President  and 
Ladies:  You  have  done  a very  foolish  thing  to 
invite  me  to  this  platform  to-day.  I never 
made  a speech  in  my  life,  because  I was  per- 
fectly aware  that  I did  not  know  how  to  make 
a speech ; but,  ladies,  I can  make  the  best  apple 
pie  that  was  ever  put  into  human  mouth,  and 
if  you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  come  to  my 
home  in  New  Jersey,  I will  prove  my  state- 
ment beyond  a doubt.” 

This  was  the  oration  of  the  afternoon.  And 
why?  Because  of  the  affirmation  of  the  I. 
Here  was  a woman  who  knew  of  one  thing 
that  she  could  do  and  do  well,  and  was  not 
ashamed  to  say  so.  It  was  a new  thing,  and 
all  wholesome  novelties  are  delightful.  Then 
this  visitor  possessed  wisdom.  She  knew  bet- 
ter than  to  talk  about  the  subjects  which  were 
on  the  programme,  because  she  had  had  no 
training,  though  after  this  bright  little  speech 
there  wasn’t  a member  of  the  club  who  did  not 
believe  that  she  could  have  spoken  to  the  point 
on  any  conceivable  topic.  When  the  glorious 
Ego  is  strong  enough  to  make  itself  felt  by 
others,  even  in  so  small  a matter  as  making 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


33 


a pie,  its  influence  for  general  upliftment  is 
remarkable. 

It  is  a fine  accomplishment  to  know  how  to 
make  a good  pie,  a good  loaf  of  bread,  a good 
soup, — in  fact,  a good  anything  to  eat,  drink, 
or  to  wear,  but  the  realization  of  ability  in 
these  directions  is  really  what  makes  the  good 
bread  and  the  artistic  gown.  The  / is  master 
of  the  situation. 

Then  the  declaration  of  our  little  club  visitor 
was  a happy  change  from  the  usual  conven- 
tional methods.  The  person  who  is  brilliantly 
unconventional  is  unique. 

Now  suppose  this  woman  could  have  stepped 
to  a still  higher  height  and  in  a few  words  had 
said  something  that  her  audience  could  carry 
home  with  them  and  remember,  about  the  all- 
mightiness of  this  God-principle  incarnated  in 
every  son  and  daughter  of  the  Most  High. 
Suppose  she  had  said : “I  do  not  choose  to 
speak  upon  the  educational  topics  that  appear 
on  your  programme,  but  I would  like  to  give 
you,  if  there  was  time,  my  idea  of  true  funda- 
mental education.  Your  speakers  have  ac- 
quitted themselves  with  credit,  but  to  my  mind 


34 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


they  have  not  once  touched  the  heart  of  the 
matter.  They  have  ignored  the  real  girl  and 
the  real  boy,  the  real  man  and  the  real  wo- 
man, and  placed  them  in  the  light  of  puppets 
to  be  pulled  and  acted  upon  by  some  outside 
influence.  This  conception  of  education  has 
endured  for  ages,  but  all  the  same  it  is  most 
false  and  pernicious.  Education  is  unfold- 
ment,  and  that  which  is  good  for  anything 
comes  from  within  instead  of  without.  The 
very  first  thing  to  teach  a child  is  the  lesson  of 
his  own  God-force,  the  power  of  his  own  Ego 
to  learn  anything,  do  anything,  overcome  any- 
thing that  stands  in  the  way  of  his  advance- 
ment. He  needs  to  be  taught  that  he  has  in 
his  own  little  self  every  quality  and  faculty 
that  God  possesses,  and  that  nothing  is  im- 
possible to  him.” 

Such  a talk,  thanks  be  to  the  spirit  of  pro- 
gress, the  evolution  of  the  Ego  in  many  a 
soul,  would  be  received  with  gratitude  and 
fullest  appreciation  by  many  members  of  our 
women’s  clubs.  But  even  those  who  appeared 
shocked  by  these  hard  statements  would  be 
benefited.  The  writer  has  observed  such  ef- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


35 


fects  too  often  to  be  in  the  least  doubt  of  their 
value. 

“ How  do  I know  that  the  I you  talk  about 
is  good  enough  to  be  cultivated  or  relied 
upon?”  some  timid,  creed-bound  friend  will 
inquire. 

Because  the  1 is  the  almighty  part  of  you — 
the  God  of  you,  and  God  is  good. 

“ But  do  not  many  persons  mistake  their 
will  for  God’s  will?  ” another  may  ask. 

No  intelligently  conscientious  person  can 
ever  so  mistake.  The  only  thing  to  know  is 
the  righteousness  of  your  cause.  “ Find  out 
you’re  right,  then  go  ahead.” 

Go  ahead  and  stop  for  nothing.  It  is  the 
doubt,  the  fear  that  has  kept  this  omnipotent 
I from  the  true  expression  of  itself.  These 
twin  spectres  can  only  be  put  out  of  our  lives 
by  the  realization  of  the  rights  and  the  power 
of  the  /. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


I CAN  BECAUSE  I AM. 

This  is  a favorite  affirmation  of  mine  and  no 
stronger  one  can  be  found. 

What  is  an  affirmation  ? 

If  called  to  the  witness-stand  we  can  either 
kiss  the  Bible  and  swear  to  tell  the  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth,  or  we  can  hold  up  our 
right  hand  and  affirm.  So  when  we  make  an 
affirmation  we  declare  what  we  believe  to  be 
the  truth. 

We  are  all  continually  upon  the  witness- 
stand.  We  are  witnessing  for  ourselves  and 
consequently  for  God,  though  we  are  not 
aware  of  it.  We  never  can  lie  to  ourselves, 
however  much  we  may  lie  to  others,  because 
God  is  in  us,  and  God  cannot  be  deceived. 

I can  because  I am. 

I can  what? 

I can  be  master  of  myself  and  my  sur- 


B82006©  I B 


AUTHOR 


PART  COM 


CALL  NO. 

I Ihft.i.r-'t 


O 


DATE  ORDERED 


OF 

DATE  OF  BILL 


IF  RUSH  INDICATE  DATE  WANTED 

K 


AUTHOR 
(surname  first) 


c*  - - 


EDITION PLACE 


DATE  OF  PUB.  ~ J-Q-L 


VOLS. 


.'•'PUBLISHER • . V . 


-PRICE. 


TO  BE  CHARGED  TO Jir. FUND 


RECOMMENDED  BY. 

WHEN  CATALOGE 


'^zt- 

SEPT5  1950, 

ECEIVEd; 


APPROVED  BY 


A 

.4 


FUND 


PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  37 

roundings.  . I can  be  well,  strong,  happy,  and 
free. 

“ But  how  can  I be  free  when  I have  never 
seen  a well  and  happy  day  in  my  life?  ” 

By  the  steadfast  endeavor  to  realize  the  I, 
the  real,  the  God  of  yourself. 

Do  you  know  what  is  meant  by  “ steadfast  ” ? 

It  is  to  hold  on  steadily,  and  this  the  major- 
ity of  persons  are  too  lazy  or  too  faithless  to 
do.  They  may  become  enthused  by  something 
they  have  read,  or  some  treatment  they  have 
had,  sufficiently  to  start  on  the  work  of  over- 
coming negative  conditions.  But  it  is  a more 
difficult  job  than  they  anticipated,  and  so  they 
often  grow  discouraged.  After  a while  they 
relax  their  efforts  and  fall  back  into  apparently 
old  conditions. 

“ Why,  I made  my  affirmation  for  a whole 
week  just  as  I was  told,  and  my  headaches 
were  not  a bit  better,”  a very  distressed  and 
weary-looking  woman  told  a circle  of  friends. 
“I’ve  simply  had  to  go  back  to  bromides. 
They  do  relieve  temporarily,  and  I must  have 
a little  rest.  I know  that  bromides  are  de- 
structive, but  I had  rather  die  than  live  in  this 


38 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


way.  I had  tried  everything  else,  you  see, 
before  I went  into  science.” 

“ Went  into  science?  ” 

It  is  impossible  not  to  be  amused  with  such 
speeches,  even  though  they  do  disclose  such 
depths  of  ignorance. 

Affirmations  are  merely  steps  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  a purpose.  They  are  what  the 
alphabet  is  to  a language,  the  multiplication 
table  to  mathematics.  One  may  say  five  times 
seven  are  thirty-five,  and  five  times  eight  are 
forty  till  his  tongue  is  paralyzed,  and  if  he 
does  not  put  these  figures  and  all  the  figures 
into  practical  demonstration  he  will  never 
know  anything  about  the  science  of  numbers. 
So  one  may  say,  I am  well,  I am  rich,  I am 
free,  and  if  he  does  not  know  what  these  state- 
ments mean,  and  how  to  use  his  common  sense 
and  intellectual  ability  in  putting  the  affirma- 
tions into  practice,  he  might  as  well  be  a parrot 
for  all  the  good  the  words  will  do  him.  And 
here  is  where  a great  many  serious  mistakes 
are  made.  This  loose  talk  about  “ science  ” is 
enough  to  disgust  any  man  who  has  ever  used 
his  brains  to  any  purpose.  The  law  is  all 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


39 


right,  but  we  must  co-operate  with  the  law  in 
order  to  make  it  of  any  use.  Here  is  the  law 
of  the  locomotive,  for  instance.  This  intricate 
and  powerful  machine,  invented  and  brought 
to  its  present  perfection  by  the  spirit  of  God 
made  manifest  in  his  highest  creation — man 
— draws  a train  of  cars  across  the  continent. 
Here  is  a law  in  full  and  beautiful  operation. 
Suppose  now  you  want  to  go  to  Denver.  What 
do  you  do?  You  make  your  preparations, 
write  to  your  friends  to  expect  you  at  a cer- 
tain time,  pack  your  trunk,  buy  your  ticket, 
go  to  the  depot,  and  get  aboard  the  train.  In 
this  way  you  have  co-operated  with  the  law  of 
the  locomotive,  which  is  simply  universal  force 
brought  into  special  use  for  the  comfort,  bene- 
fit, and  prosperity  of  the  individual  and  the 
nation. 

Now,  you  desired  with  all  your  heart  to 
make  this  trip,  or  you  thought  it  of  sufficient 
importance  to  warrant  a good  deal  of  work  and 
expense.  The  locomotive  takes  you  to  your 
destination,  and  there  you  are,  wearied  or 
rested,  happy  or  unhappy,  according  as  you 
personally  have  co-operated  with  the  God  with- 


40 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


in  yourself.  If  you  have  fussed  and  fumed, 
and  fanned  and  complained,  if  you  have 
usurped  the  engineer’s  prerogative  and  tried 
to  make  better  time  from  one  station  to  another 
all  the  way  from  New  York  to  Denver,  you 
were  probably  something  of  a wreck  when  you 
got  there ; but  if  you  realized  that  the  very 
same  force  that  ran  that  machine  was  run- 
ning you  and  that  you  could  depend  upon 
it,  there  isn’t  the  least  doubt  but  what  you 
were  a credit  to  yourself  and  a joy  to  your 
friends  when  you  swung  into  the  great  Den- 
ver depot. 

Suppose,  instead  of  this  intelligent  working 
with  the  law,  you  should  make  no  prepara- 
tions for  the  journey  you  desired  to  make, 
and  should  sit  still  in  your  home  and  say: 
“ I can  go  to  Denver.  I am  on  my  way  to 
Denver.  I shall  arrive  in  Denver  next  Satur- 
day morning.  I am  free  to  go  where  I please, 
and  I please  to  go  to  Denver.  I am  God’s 
child,  and  because  this  is  so  I have  a pass  to 
any  point  in  the  universe.  I am  on  my  way 
to  Denver.  I am  on  my  way  to  Denver” — 
would  you  expect  to  get  there? 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


41 


I do  not  think  you  would,  and  yet  this  ex- 
pectation wotild  not  be  a bit  more  ridiculous 
than  the  claims  which  are  constantly  made  by 
alleged  scientists.  These  claims  are  all  mis- 
leading. You  cannot  sit  in  your  rocking- 
chair  and  get  anywhere,  though  you  piled  up 
affirmations  and  concentrated  all  }mur  mental 
energies  upon  the  trip.  You  would  hitch 
along  a little  in  the  old  way — this  is  the  law 
of  rocking-chairs — and  the  result  would  be  a 
more  defined  rounding  of  the  shoulders  and 
a shrivelling  of  brain-cells. 

Try  and  remember  that  the  only  value  of  an 
affirmation  is  to  familiarize  the  mind  with  a new 
truth.  To  the  boy  just  taking  up  the  study  of 
arithmetic  the  science  of  mathematics  is  a 
sealed  book.  He  is  obliged  to  open  this  vol- 
ume little  by  little.  So  he  studies  addition, 
multiplication,  and  division,  until  he  sees  his 
way  into  new  combinations.  After  a while  he 
is  not  compelled  to  recall  that  nine  times  nine 
are  eighty-one.  He  knows  it,  and  that  part  of 
his  mathematical  education  is  finished.  He 
can  run  up  a great  column  of  figures  in  a jiffy, 
and  if  he  makes  a mistake  he  knows  that  it  is 


42 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


his  own  blunder,  and  that  there  is  nothing 
amiss  with  the  law. 

There  is  very  little  difference  between  the 
student  of  mathematics  and  the  student  of 
mind.  The  thought  of  being  able  to  govern 
ourselves  instead  of  being  governed  by  fate 
or  circumstance  is  a truth  which  has  only  re- 
cently been  recognized.  Centuries  of  error 
have  made  it  a hard  matter  to  comprehend. 
Like  the  science  of  numbers  it  must  be  com- 
menced at  the  very  beginning  and  in  the  sim- 
plest manner  possible. 

When  we  make  the  glorious  statement — 
“/  can  because  I am,"  it  is  imperative  that  we 
do  our  level  best  to  understand  what  these 
words  mean.  Without  this  understanding  the 
phrase  is  of  no  earthly  use. 

I can  be  free  and  happy  and  strong  because 
I am.  Am  what?  Am  the  expression,  the 
temple  of  the  living  God — the  expression  of 
creative  energy.  This  makes  me  the  true  “ I 
am,”  and  all  that  I have  to  do  is  to  recognize 
this  truth  and  express  this  energy.  There 
can  be  no  realization  of  the  “ I am  ” until  one 
begins  to  create,  just  as  grammar  can  be  of 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


43 


no  use  to  a student  until  he  begins  to  make 
sentences  and  write  letters  and  compositions. 
Then  he  creates  something,  and  so  puts  into 
practice  the  rules  which  seemed  so  hard  when 
he  was  memorizing  them.  Let  us  take  a case 
in  point.  I,  for  instance,  was  at  the  head  of 
my  class  in  grammar,  though,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  mathematics,  I thought  it  the  dryest 
stuff  that  the  mind  of  man  had  ever  conceived 
of.  I was  at  the  foot  of  the  class  in  mathe- 
matics, and  as  I look  back  I think  I was  some- 
what proud  of  the  position.  I was  ashamed  of 
myself  about  the  grammar,  however,  for  I re- 
alized that  I was  a thorough  fake.  My  teacher 
was  deceived  in  me  because  of  a quick  and  re- 
tentive memory.  I could  remember  pages  of 
anything  no  matter  how  dry  or  abstruse.  But 
I did  not  know  how  intellectually  to  apply  the 
rules  to  composition,  and  yet,  strange  to  say, 
the  preparation  of  an  essay  was  a perfect  joy 
to  me.  I instinctively  used  these  rules  with- 
out perceiving  how  I did  it,  and  it  was  not  until 
in  later  years  when  I commenced  to  earn  my 
living  by  the  pen  that  the  meaning  and  appli- 
cation of  these  rules  dawned  upon  me.  When 


44 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


this  time  came  I was  amazed,  and  I could  not 
help  wondering  if  the  failure  to  make  these 
connections  in  the  past  was  the  fault  of  my 
teacher  or  my  own.  It  seems  to  me  that  I 
could  have  known  as  well  then  as  afterward, 
but  perhaps  not. 

To  take  a large  view  of  the  subject,  was  it 
important  that  I should  know  these  rules  when 
I could  talk  to  the  point  and  write  to  the  point 
without  them?  It  appears  sometimes  as  if 
this  especial  creative  faculty  was  born  whole, 
so  to  speak,  and  needed  no  primary  instruc- 
tion. It  came  full-fledged,  all  ready  to  do  its 
work. 

This  is  no  uncommon  experience,  as  most 
of  us  know.  There  are  born  mathematicians, 
mechanics,  and  musicians,  who  every  day 
demonstrate  the  completeness  of  the  creative 
principle. 

We  see,  more  infrequently,  it  is  true,  ex- 
cellent mental  scientists  who  never  needed  a 
constructed  affirmation  in  their  progressive 
work.  They  are  themselves  tne  affirmations. 
They  intuitively  know  that  the  God-right  to 
govern  is  vested  in  themselves.  They  did 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


45 


not  have  to  be  told.  It  was  not  necessary  for 
them  to  say,  “I  am  free,”  “I  am  well.” 
These  were  self-evident  propositions. 

This  is  the  way  it  will  be  in  everything  one 
of  these  days.  We  shall  not  need  the  slow 
processes  of  learning  in  any  department  of  art, 
literature,  or  science.  We  shall  know  because 
we  know  that  we  have  a right  to  know.  Until 
then  we  must  learn  the  primary  rules  of  any- 
thing in  which  we  wish  to  become  proficient. 

There  is  no  way  of  getting  a truth  firmly 
fixed  in  the  mind  outside  of  these  psychic  or 
intuitive  methods  which  we  have  been  consid- 
ering, except  by  beginning  with  the  alphabet, 
and  according  to  our  attention  will  be  our 
progress. 

Every  conscientious  student  of  the  science 
of  being  has  times  of  illumination  which  clear 
away  the  fog  and  reveal  the  onward  and  up- 
ward path.  He  is  not  obliged  then  to  grope 
his  way  by  short  and  careful  steps.  He  walks 
bravely  and  triumphantly  along,  feeling  confi- 
dent that,  whatever  the  obstacles,  he  can  never 
be  left  entirely  in  the  dark. 

The  progress  of  the  individual  is  determined 


46 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


by  the  amount  of  his  creative  force.  The  first 
thing  to  know  is  that  we  possess  this  creative 
energy,  and  the  next  thing  is  to  bring  it  into 
intelligent  exercise.  In  order  to  grasp  this 
knowledge,  affirmations  of  power  are  abso- 
lutely necessary.  An  approximate  realization 
of  such  possession  is  usually  a sufficient  stimu- 
lus to  endeavor.  It  is  impossible  to  be  care- 
less or  lazy  when  the  song  of  dominion  is  sing- 
ing in  one’s  soul;  when  the  divine  in  one’s 
self  is  constantly  declaring  that  health  and 
happiness  and  immortality  in  the  flesh  are 
truths  if  one  is  only  willing  to  work  them  out. 

Not  long  ago  a friend,  whom  I always 
called  “ the  woman  with  a willing  mind,”  so 
desirous  was  she  of  knowing  and  doing,  started 
in  with  all  her  might  on  this  work  of  recon- 
struction. Her  life  had  been  a hard  and  bitter 
one,  but  there  was  not  an  atom  of  bitterness 
in  her  nature  that  I could  ever  discern.  And 
I really  tried  to  do  so,  although  such  effort  was 
quite  opposed  to  the  usual  scientific  method  of 
looking  only  for  the  good.  In  one  of  our  con- 
versations she  said : 

“ I have  always  felt  that  there  was  some- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


4 7 


thing  wrong  in  myself,  or  all  these  horrible 
things  could  not  intrude  upon  my  life.  But 
what?  As  far  as  the  Ten  Commandments 
were  concerned  I was  absolutely  perfect.  I 
was  kindly  disposed  to  my  fellow-creatures 
and  always  ready  to  do  a kindness.  I never 
quarrelled,  and  was  very  slow  to  anger.” 

“ But  these  were  all  negative  virtues,”  I ven- 
tured to  remark. 

“Yes,  I have  thought  of  that,  but  as  long  as 
I was  willing  to  do  all  I could  for  peace  and 
harmony  what  more  was  to  be  expected  from 
me?  I could  not  make  the  persons  in  my 
environment  behave  themselves.  I tried  that 
for  years,  and  it  didn’t  work.  The  more  I 
expostulated  and  reasoned  and  coaxed,  the 
more  friction  I found  to  contend  with.  Un- 
der all  these  circumstances,  why  should  I con- 
stantly blame  myself  for  what  was  continually 
happening?  ” 

Then  I told  her  that  this  accusation  was  the 
God  in  herself  protesting  against  the  sacrifice 
of  her  individuality;  that  this  divine  force, 
this  creative  principle  was  ever  on  the  watch 
to  assure  her  that  self-preservation  was  really 


4S 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


the  first  law  of  nature ; that  we  could  do  noth- 
ing worth  doing  for  others  until  we  lifted  our- 
selves out  of  negative  conditions. 

“But,”  said  she,  “you  do  not  mean  that  we 
must  stop  caring  and  doing  for  others?  That 
would  be  impossible.” 

“ It  is  just  as  Jesus  Christ  said:  'I,  if  I be 
lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.’  As 
long  as  we  are  down  in  the  valley  with  our 
brothers  and  sisters  we  are  of  no  use  to  them. 
The  sentiment  that  passess  current  for  helpful 
love  is  maudlin  stuff.  Did  it  ever  do  you  any 
good  to  sit  down  and  weep  with  a friend,  or 
have  that  friend  weep  with  you?  Did  you 
ever  feel  any  better  or  stronger  for  listening 
to  a detailed  account  of  an  illness  or  a death 
or  a sorrow?  Did  you  ever  receive  any  last- 
ing help  from  pouring  your  woes  into  another’s 
ear?  Do  you  think  he  or  she  was  lifted  and 
inspired  by  your  doleful  story?  No,  you  were 
all  in  the  ditch  together.  When  we  reach  an 
eminence  where  it  is  possible  for  us  to  hold 
out  our  hands  and  say,  “Come  up  higher, 
brother.  Jump  up  and  try  it  again,  sister,” 
with  smiles  on  our  faces  and  happiness  in  our 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


49 


hearts,  because  we  know  that  by  one  proc- 
ess or  another  every  child  of  God  must  some- 
how or  somewhere  save  himself,  then  we  can 
do  some  good.  When  we  are  really  ‘ lifted 
up  ’ we  realize  that  all  is  well  with  everybody, 
notwithstanding  the  seeming,  and  it  is  utterly 
impossible  for  us  any  longer  to  worry  about 
them,  or  be  hurt  by  them.  They  are  po- 
tential conquerors  and  have  the  same  privi- 
lege of  Sonship  and  Daughtership  that  we 
have.  Then  our  letting  go  of  them  is  the 
very  best  thing  that  could  happen.  There  is 
nothing  more  aggravating  to  a person  who 
is  working  out  his  problem,  whether  in  the 
science  of  mathematics  or  the  science  of 
Being,  than  to  be  continually  nagged,  ques- 
tioned, and  advised.  His  rights  are  being  in- 
truded upon,  and  he  resents  it,  and  that  makes 
inharmony  rampant  and  is  the  cause  of  more 
sickness  and  sorrow  to  the  interferer  than  to 
the  one  who  is  interfered  with.” 

“I  begin  to  see  it,”  said  the  woman  with 
the  willing  mind.  “ I have  been  sentimental 
instead  of  wisely  loving.  I will  strive  for  the 
eminence  you  spoke  of.” 


50  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

And  she  did  strive.  For  weeks  there  was 
no  report.  I minded  my  own  business — 
though  I confess  it  was  hard — and  asked  no 
questions.  Finally,  one  morning  we  met  at 
a shopping  counter.  I knew  that  she  had 
climbed  the  heights  as  soon  as  I saw  her  face. 

“Well?”  said  I. 

“All  is  well,”  she  replied,  “ and  oh ! it  came 
so  suddenly.  There  had  been  an  unusual  con- 
flict in  the  family,  and  I started  to  make  my 
affirmations  of  peace.  But  to  my  wonder  and 
surprise  I found  I did  not  need  them.  Peace 
was  really  mine  right  in  the  midst  of  this  rag- 
ing tempest.  It  had  no  more  effect  upon  me 
than  distant  thunder,  and  I have  a perfect 
realization  that  I never  again  can  be  affected 
by  such  conditions.” 

This  was  the  result  of  willingness  to  learn, 
and  a steadfast  holding  to  the  lessons.  Her 
affirmations  were  at  first  merely  intellectual 
helps,  the  same  as  the  multiplication  table  to 
a child,  but  they  opened  the  door  for  her  into 
countless  realms  of  beauty  and  harmony, 

“Go  thou,  and  do  likewise.” 

“I  can  because  I am.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


RESPECT  FOR  THE  OLD. 

“ W hy  do  people  generally  lose  respect  for 
the  old?” 

For  no  other  reason  in  the  world  than  that 
the  old  generally  lose  respect  for  themselves. 

This  answer  will  probably  be  strongly  com- 
bated by  the  asker  of  this  question,  who  shows 
by  her  communication  a very  strong  belief  in 
the  necessity  of  old  age  and  other  negative  and 
equally  unpleasant  conditions.  But  let  us  see 
if  the  statement  is  not  true. 

The  thought  of  the  ages  has  so  crystallized 
into  a belief  in  the  inevitableness  and  help- 
lessness of  old  age,  that  at  a certain  time  in 
life  every  human  being  considers  it  an  imper- 
ative duty  to  begin  to  travel  down  hill.  They 
say  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  them, 
but  they  reckon  without  their  host,  for  the 
Lord  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it. 
The  One  whom  we  call  Lord  is  the  Lord  of 


52 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


life  and  not  of  death,  the  Lord  of  strength  and 
not  of  weakness.  The  All-Good  could  never 
have  decreed  anything  so  horrible  as  disease 
and  decay.  Ten  years  ago  even,  such  a sen- 
tence as  the  above  would  have  been  challenged 
and  seriously  criticised,  but  to-day,  thank 
God,  orthodox  ministers  are  preaching  this 
doctrine  in  their  pulpits,  and  eminent  but  once 
narrow  philosophers  are  putting  such  thoughts 
into  books. 

Growing  old  is  a habit  and  a very  bad 
one.  Growing  old  is  a letting  go,  a relaxing 
of  energy. 

“ I am  so  many  years  old.  I do  not  see  as 
well  as  I once  did.  None  of  my  faculties  are 
as  acute  as  they  once  were.  I am  getting 
feeble.  I am  growing  old." 

This  is  what  we  hear  on  all  sides ; what  we 
always  have  heard,  and  what  we  shall  continue 
to  hear  until  there  is  a more  universal  waking 
up  in  this  matter.  A good  many  are  waking 
up,  however,  and  these  questioners  and  think- 
ers will  carry  the  glad  tidings  to  others,  who 
in  their  turn  will  prove  evangels. 

As  many  of  our  readers  are  already  impa- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


53 


tient  to  know  what  is  meant  by  the  statement 
that  the  old  are  not  respected  because  they  do 
not  respect  themselves,  we  will  consider  that 
point  now,  and  go  on  with  the  argument  later. 

The  letters  that  come  to  this  office  from 
those  who  call  themselves  old  are  all  of  one 
character.  They  are  full  of  complaints  of 
their  children,  relatives,  and  friends.  They 
are  not  treated  well,  not  respected.  Many  of 
them  have  broken  up  their  homes  and  gone  to 
live  with  their  children,  in  many  cases  having 
invested  the  bulk  of  their  money  in  the  son’s 
or  the  son-in-law’s  business.  If  any  of  them 
have  ever  realized  on  these  sums,  the  good 
news  has  not  reached  this  department. 

There  are  honest  sons  and  honest  sons-in- 
law,  but  there  seems  no  reason,  now  that 
mother  has  got  along  in  years,  why  she  should 
not  put  her  money  into  the  business  and  take 
it  out  in  board. 

Then  there  are  the  mothers  and  fathers  who 
are  taken  in  out  of  charity,  and  who  feel  them- 
selves a burden  every  moment  of  their  miser- 
able lives.  There  are  all  sorts  and  conditions, 
but  every  one  of  the  number  parted  with  his 


54 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


or  her  self-respect  before  entering  upon  this 
bondage. 

Here  is  a woman  who  gave  up  a fine  home 
and  a small  but  adequate  income  for  the  privi- 
lege (?)  of  living  with  her  daughter.  Now, 
through  some  mismanagement  and  more  sel- 
fishness on  the  part  of  the  daughter,  mother 
is  obliged  to  ask  for  car-fare  and  money  for 
postage-stamps,  and  is  considered  very  cruel 
if  she  is  not  willing  at  all  times,  by  night  or 
by  day,  to  act  as  nurse  for  the  grandchildren. 
This  woman  has  sacrificed  every  right.  Do 
you  think  she  respects  herself?  Not  much. 
Had  she  kept  her  house  and  lived  on  her  in- 
come, she  would  have  been  independent  and 
consequently  self-respecting.  This  she  would 
have  done  had  she  known  herself  for  what  she 
was — a free-born  citizen  of  God’s  universe. 
The  head  of  a family  should  never  carelessly 
pass  the  reins  of  government  to  another. 
There  are  children  and  children;  some  that 
can  be  trusted  and  others  that  can  not.  The 
son  or  daughter  who  has  been  selfish  or  sly  in 
their  dealings  before  marriage  will  be  tricky 
and  selfish  afterward.  Marriage,  like  death, 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


55 


produces  no  great  change.  The  average  son 
has  no  misgivings  about  leaving  his  mother 
and  starting  out  for  himself  in  life.  He  mar- 
ries and  goes  away.  So  does  the  daughter. 
This  is  all  as  it  should  be.  The  birds  forsake 
the  parent  nest,  but  is  it  very  poor  policy  for 
the  mother  bird  to  fly  with  them,  at  least  to 
the  extent  of  deserting  her  own  home.  Some- 
times, of  course,  here  seems  no  other  way,  but 
such  changes  should  be  made  with  the  greatest 
caution.  Right  here  is  one  of  the  places  where 
individualism  is  so  necessary.  The  home 
may  seem  a different  spot  after  the  children 
have  left  it,  but  the  home  made  by  the  father 
and  mother  is  not  alone  for  the  rearing  and 
the  education  of  children.  It  is  for  themselves. 
The  greatest  mistake  that  was  ever  made  is  in 
thinking  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  do,  to 
have,  to  enjoy  after  the  children  are  “settled.” 

“ If  I can  live  to  see  my  daughters  happily 
married  and  settled,”  says  the  fond,  foolish, 
ignorant  mother,  “ I shall  have  nothing  left  to 
wish  for.” 

There  is  nothing  in  the  least  right  about 
such  an  attitude  or  statement,  from  the  first 


56 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


premise  to  the  last.  To  commence  with,  the 
marriage  of  the  daughters  should  not  be,  as  it 
generally  is,  the  first  consideration.  It  should 
be  the  proper  training  and  education  of  the 
girl,  with  a view  to  the  evolution  of  individu- 
ality, that  she  may  be  able  to  hold  her  own 
anywhere,  in  marriage  or  out  of  it.  The 
mothers  who  think  that  life  holds  nothing 
more  for  them  after  their  children  are  disposed 
of,  are  sure  to  become  burdens  upon  somebody. 
What  little  individuality  they  possessed  has 
vanished  with  the  children,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing left  but  a grumbling,  tottering  stepping 
toward  the  grave.  Such  persons  are  not  desir- 
able anywhere.  The  sons  may  want  to  bor- 
row their  money,  and  the  daughters  will  put 
up  with  them  if  they  are  obliged  to.  Of 
course  they  “won’t  see  mother  without  a 
home,”  but  she  is  so  hard  to  get  along  with, 
with  her  pains  and  fears  and  stories  of  the 
past.  How  can  these  mothers  inspire  respect 
when  they  have  not  enough  respect  for  them- 
selvs  to  keep  them  cheerful,  hopeful,  active, 
and  perfectly  independent?  There  can  be  no 
happiness  in  life  without  independence,  and 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


57 


one’s  own  home  is  the  best  place  to  foster  and 
cultivate  this  most  desirable  quality. 

The  satisfaction  of  having  wisely  directed 
one’s  children  should  add  many  years  to  one’s 
life  instead  of  taking  from  them.  There  is 
very  little  time  during  the  period  of  child-bear- 
ing and  child-rearing  for  the  broad  study  and 
enjoyment  to  which  every  daughter  of  God  is 
entitled.  After  the  toil  and  heat  of  the  day 
come  the  natural  rest  and  refreshment.  This 
is  the  opportunity  for  the  attainment  of  a 
higher  culture  which  some  day  some  men  and 
women  will  know  how  to  enjoy.  There  is  no 
time  for  comfort  and  peace  and  joy  when  peo- 
ple are  spending  all  their  energies  in  getting 
ready  to  die.  Is  it  not  possible  to  make  the 
writers  of  these  old-age  and  death  letters  to 
this  office  understand  that  they  not  only  do 
all  their  own  dying,  but  their  own  decree- 
ing as  well  ? There  is  no  far-away  God  sitting 
on  a throne  in  a far-away  heaven,  who  decrees 
that  you  shall  fail  in  health,  fail  in  pocket, 
grow  old,  and  in  other  ways  make  fools  of 
yourselves.  It  is  all  according  to  your  own 
desire,  intelligence,  and  determination.  If, 


58 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


with  the  love  of  God  in  your  heart,  you  plant 
yourselves  firmly  on  your  two  feet,  resolved 
to  stand,  there  is  nothing  in  the  universe  that 
can  overthrow  you,  because  there  is  nothing  in 
the  universe  superior  to  man.  He  is  the  big- 
gest thing  in  it,  and  when  he  says  a thing  and 
means  it,  it  is  bound  to  go.  Man — this  word 
is  of  course  used  generically  and  means  woman 
as  well  as  man — is  made  in  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  God,  and  is  the  only  medium  through 
which  God  can  express  himself.  Whether  this 
medium  is  strong  or  weak,  well  or  ill,  happy 
or  unhappy,  rests  in  the  individual.  It  is  a 
question  of  his  intelligence  and  fidelity.  The 
better  and  stronger  the  medium  of  expression, 
the  stronger  and  better  the  message. 

Some  of  you  will  ask : “ But  what  are  these 

feeble  old  people  to  do  in  order  to  bring  about 
a better  state  of  things?  They  are  old,  they 
are  sick,  they  are  dependent,  they  are  very 
unhappy,  and  their  children  do  not  respect 
them.  Granted  that  they  brought  these  con- 
ditions upon  themselves,  what  can  they  do 
now  ? " 

All  of  them  could  do  something  if  they 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


59 


would.  Some  of  them  will  when  the  truth  is 
clearly  presented  to  them.  This  habit  of 
growing  old  and  dying  is  a very  hard  one  to 
overcome.  It  is  in  the  very  blood  and  bones. 

Steps  can  be  retraced,  dropped  stitches 
taken  up,  but  it  is  not  easy  work.  Old  houses 
can  be  renovated  and  put  in  beautiful  order  if 
will  and  intelligence  stand  at  the  helm.  But 
it  must  be  an  up-and-a-doing  sort  of  business, 
and  each  one  must  be  a faithful  warder  at  his 
or  her  own  gate.  Thoughts  of  feebleness, 
illness,  old  age,  and  death  must  be  met  and 
vanquished  at  once,  and  in  their  stead  must  be 
placed  high  and  brave  thoughts  of  dominion 
over  all  things. 

One  friend  who  has  been  carefully  practis- 
ing on  these  lines  writes  that  she  hasn’t  cele- 
brated a birthday  for  three  years,  and  is  deter- 
mined not  to  count  the  time  off  as  was  once 
her  foolish  habit. 

“ My  children  and  grandchildren  do  not 
know  what  to  make  of  me,”  she  adds.  “I 
have  no  occasion  now  to  ask  aid  in  buttoning 
my  boots  or  tying  my  veil.  I go  out  and  re- 
turn when  I please,  and  I trouble  no  one  to 


60  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

come  after  me;  indeed,  I will  not  permit  it 
under  any  circumstances.  This  used  to  be  a 
standing  cause  of  complaint : ‘Oh,  dear!  I’ve 
got  to  go  after  grandmother.  ’ I could  talk  to 
you  a week  and  then  not  tell  you  all  the  good 
things  that  I have  substituted  for  bad  and  weak 
ones.  I am  rarely  ever  ill  now,  and  five  years 
ago  illness  was  my  normal  condition.  Let  me 
tell  you  that  mother  is  treated  with  some  re- 
spect now.” 

Certainly,  and  because  she  respects  herself. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


/ 


don’t  be  discouraged. 

In  following  the  path  laid  out  in  previous 
chapters  there  may  come  moments  when  it 
will  seem  far  easier  to  lie  down  by  the  wayside 
and  die  than  to  keep  up  the  march.  This  is 
the  case  with  the  majority  of  persons  who 
have  spent  their  lives  in  thinking  wrong 
thoughts  and  doing  foolish  deeds.  Error- 
thinking has  become  habitual,  and  the  work 
of  casting  out  error  and  substituting  truth  will 
sometimes  be  wearisome.  But  there  is  one 
supreme  satisfaction  in  this  quest,  tired  and 
disheartened  though  we  may  occasionally  be — 
we  can  never  turn  back.  We  may  go  slowly, 
and  we  may  sit  down  and  wait  a while,  but 
it  is  an  utter  impossibilty  to  retrace  our  steps. 
We  may  look  back,  and  perchance  cry  out  for 
the  things  we  have  left,  foolish  and  unsatis- 
factory though  they  were — such  is  the  force  of 
habit — but  up  to  date  I have  not  found  a sin- 


62 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


gle  person  who  ever  returned  to  the  old  start- 
ing-point. 

And  isn’t  this  glorious  testimony!  One 
may  falter  for  a moment  and  think  he  is  about 
to  faint  or  fall,  but  a little  converse  with  the 
God  in  himself  braces  him  up  again,  and  off 
he  starts  more  determined  than  ever.  He  may 
feel  and  declare  that  he  seems  to  be  making 
very  little  headway  compared  to  what  he  ex- 
pected when  he  took  the  road,  but  there  is 
never  any  real  desire  for  the  old  methods. 

The  tremendous  statement  has  been  made 
that  no  one  likes  to  have  the  care  of  the  old. 
This  will  be  contradicted  by  a few  sentimental- 
ists, who  will  declare  that  they  were  never  so 
happy  in  their  lives  as  when  they  were  antici- 
pating the  wants  of  mother  or  grandmother, 
or  tagging  along  after  dear  old  grandpa  for 
fear  that  he  would  stumble  and  fall. 

I do  not  believe  that  these  are  true  state- 
ments, though  I do  not  think  that  these  per- 
sons mean  to  lie.  They  have  schooled  them- 
selves to  this  work  because  some  one  must  do 
it,  but  that  they  like  the  job  is  not  conceivable. 
How  can  one  fail  constantly  to  compare  mother 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  63 

as  she  once  was  with  mother  as  she  is  now? 
And  how  is  it  possible  not  to  cry  out  in  bitter- 
ness of  spirit  against  such  waste  and  disinte- 
gration ? 

A young  man  said  to  me  with  a vehemence 
which  I never  saw  equalled : 

“ I would  give  every  dollar  I own  in  the 
world  if  I could  stop  my  mother  in  this  down- 
hill process  which  she  seems  to  have  adopted 
lately.  She  is  the  light  of  my  eyes  and  the 
joy  of  my  heart,  and  to  see  her  ageing  and 
failing  day  after  day  drives  me  nearly  dis- 
tracted.” 

“What  does  she  say  about  it?  ” I asked. 

“ Oh,  she  smiles  serenely,  and  declares  that 
I am  both  illogical  and  irreverent.  God  has 
created  us  all  to  grow  old  and  die,  and  her 
time  has  come  for  the  decrepitude  of  age.  I 
told  her  this  morning  that  I thought  it  would 
be  a good  plan  to  die  and  be  done  with  it.” 

“ Then  you  would  not  like  to  walk  along 
with  her  through  these  processes  of  decay  ? ” 

“ No,  and  I don’t  believe  it  would  be  possi- 
ble for  me  to  do  so.  I would  a thousand  times 
rather  she  would  breathe  her  last  breath  this 


64 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


minute  than  to  see  this  awful  work  go  on. 
Just  think  of  it — once  so  dainty  and  bright, 
and  now  picking  out  sombre  colors  and  wear- 
ing what  she  calls  ‘ old  ladies’  bonnets.’  ” 

“ You  don’t  agree  with  your  mother  in  re- 
gard to  the  cause  of  old  age  and  death?  In 
other  words,  you  do  not  consider  them  God- 
sent?  ” 

“ God  forbid ! ” was  the  godly  response.  “ I 
believe  that  the  devil  of  ignorance  is  the  only 
one  to  blame  in  this  matter.” 

These  were  advanced  thoughts  indeed  for  a 
young  man  scarcely  twenty-four  years  old,  but 
he  spoke  the  honest  truth  out  of  a full,  tender, 
and  loving  heart.  He  was  not  fettered  by 
creed  or  habit.  He  did  not  care  what  any  one 
might  think  or  say,  and  that  is  the  place  we 
must  all  reach  before  we  can  be  really  free. 

“ Is  it  possible  that  I have  got  to  stand  by 
and  see  my  mother  go  trotting  down-hill  in 
this  fashion?”  my  companion  asked  at  part- 
ing. 

“And,  oh!  those  confounded  old  ladies’ 
bonnets!  ” he  added.  “ It  sometimes  seems  to 
me  that  if  I could  get  her  to  take  some  interest 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


65 


in  her  personal  appearance,  in  the  style  and 
quality  of  her  garments,  half  the  battle  would 
be  won.  But,  no!  Any  old  thing  is  good 
enough  for  an  old  woman,  and  I have  at  last 
reached  the  place  where  I hate  to  take  her  out, 
because  I am  ashamed  of  her.  If  she  goes  on 
at  this  rate  in  five  years’  time  she  will  look 
more  like  an  Egyptian  mummy  than  anything 
else.” 

My  advice  to  this  loyal  and  sensible  son  was 
to  talk  these  things  right  out,  whatever  the 
apparent  consequences.  He  was  right  and  his 
mother  was  wrong.  Patience  and  determina- 
tion might  succeed  in  forcing  a seed  into  her 
benighted  mind  which  would  take  root  and 
grow  and  blossom  into  a saving  grace. 

This  young  man  had  good  and  sufficient 
reasons  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him,  so  this 
advice  was  safe.  It  might  be  safe  in  any  in- 
stance, though  it  does  seem  as  if  the  average 
spoken  protest  against  old  age  served  only  to 
stir  up  discord. 

“I  come  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a sword,” 
said  Jesus  Christ.  And  sometimes  the  sword 
of  the  spirit  is  more  necessary  than  anything 


66 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


else.  We  should  certainly  be  very  positive  in 
our  treatment  of  these  negative  conditions. 

Does  any  one  really  think  that  there  would 
be  such  a demand  for  old  men’s  and  old  ladies’ 
homes  if  the  children  of  these  decrepit  and  dy- 
ing ones  really  liked  to  take  care  of  them? 
That  there  are  inmates  of  these  institutions 
whose  children  would  gladly  care  for  them  if 
they  were  able  to  do  so,  goes  without  saying, 
but  that  this  work  would  be  done  more  from  a 
sense  of  duty  than  real  desire,  goes  also  with- 
out saying.  The  secrets  are  all  disclosed  when 
one  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  obliged  to  listen 
to  the  stories  of  those  who  are  supported  by 
public  charity. 

“ I was  very  disagreeable  to  my  son-in-law,” 
a sweet-faced,  bright-eyed  woman  told  me. 
“You  see  I had  a long  spell  of  rheumatism, 
and  he  thought  it  was  more  than  my  daughter 
was  able  to  bear,  and  the  first  thing  I knew  I 
was  obliged  to  come  here.  Of  course  I came 
with  my  own  consent,  but  I could  not  stay  and 
be  a burden,  you  know.” 

And  this  foolish  woman  had  heavily  mort- 
gaged a house  and  a store  to  pull  her  son-in- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


67 


law  out  of  a financial  hole.  He  couldn’t  pay 
the  interest  on  the  property,  and  the  mort- 
gages were  foreclosed. 

With  this  woman,  as  with  thousands  of  oth- 
ers, there  had  been  no  intelligent  preparation 
against  old  age — or,  speaking  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  world-— for  old  age.  Even  without 
the  spiritual  quickening  which  discloses  the 
truth  that  such  decay  is  not  necessary,  it  does 
seem  as  if  we  might  have  had  a little  better 
showing  in  these  respects. 

Now,  I would  not  be  in  the  least  discouraged 
about  our  friends  in  the  old  ladies’  and  the  old 
men’s  homes  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that 
these  institutions  are  exclusively  governed  by 
the  churches  and  considered  as  simple  halting- 
places  for  the  dying.  Sometimes  death  seems 
long  in  coming  to  all  concerned.  The  rooms 
and  the  beds  are  wanted  for  other  occupants, 
those  who  are  not  so  helpless,  and  in  such  an 
atmosphere  how  is  it  possible  to  speak  the 
word  that  will  be  likely  to  start  a healthy  train 
of  thought  ? Outside  the  cemetery  there  is 
nothing  nearer  death  than  these  congregations 
of  men  and  women  “waiting  for  the  call.”  It 


68 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


is  the  saddest  sight  on  earth,  because  it  more 
vividly  shows  the  effect  of  ignorance  than 
anything  else  can  do,  not  excepting  prisons. 

There  is  life  and  health  and  strength  in 
prisons.  The  inmates  have  materialized  error 
thoughts,  that  is  all,  and  there  is  a fine  chance 
for  a man  as  long  as  he  expects  to  be  free 
some  day. 

I never  saw  a horse  “ turned  out  to  die  ” 
without  a keen  sense  of  sorrow,  but  how  much 
harder  to  bear  is  the  sight  of  these  multitudes 
of  our  dear  brothers  and  sisters  waiting  for 
death  to  relieve  them  and  all  who  have  the 
care  of  them ! 

It  is  a hideous  picture,  and  the  less  we  con- 
template it  the  better  for  our  peace  of  mind 
and  consequent  usefulness.  But  these  object- 
lessons  are  occasionally  necessary.  They 
teach  us  the  importance  of  a steadfast  protest 
against  this  crystallized  thought  of  old  age. 
They  brace  us  up  to  speak  the  word  continu- 
ally. 

We  know  now  that  no  one  wants  to  grow 
old,  feeble,  and  helpless,  that  no  one  enjoys 
observing  this  process  in  others,  and  that  the 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


69 


care  of  the  old  is  not  a congenial  occupation. 
The  whole  universe  cries  out  against  decay, 
and  yet  every  human  creature  on  top  of  the 
earth  believed  until  very  recently  that  God  or 
nature  had  decreed  old  age  and  death.  The 
large  majority  of  the  world’s  inhabitants  are 
of  this  opinion  now,  but  there  are  enough 
who  are  not  to  leaven  the  whole  lump. 

So  let  us  not  be  discouraged,  but  let  us  work 
with  all  our  might  for  the  establishment  of 
the  truth,  which  is  that  we  have  as  much  right 
to  life  as  the  God  who  made  us,  and  that  the 
issues  of  life  and  death  are  within  ourselves. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PREVENTION. 

This  work  should  be  commenced  in  child- 
hood, as  soon  as  a boy  or  a girl  is  born  into 
the  world.  Yea,  verily,  and  before,  months 
and  years  before  there  is  any  thought  of  giv- 
ing birth  to  children.  Many  persons  are  now 
waking  up  to  this  necessity,  and  are  doing 
their  best  to  educate  the  young  in  the  science 
of  being. 

I charge  all  those  who  read  this  volume  to 
strive  in  every  imaginable  way  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  which  shall  teach  this 
science  of  mind  along  with  the  intellectual 
branches  which  must  form  the  groundwork  of 
a child’s  education.  It  is  a shame  to  be  any 
longer  remiss  in  this  matter.  Why  should 
we  who  are  so  keenly  aware  of  our  own  mis- 
education  stand  passively  by  and  permit  our 
little  ones  to  box  the  compass  of  errors  which 
have  made  life  a perpetual  Tophet,  and  which 


Prevention  and  cure  of  old  age.  71 

we  are  striving  so  hard  to  eliminate  from  our 
consciousness  ? 

When  we  commence  this  work  we  find  that 
there  is  something  to  do  all  along  the  line.  We 
must  meet  and  speak  the  word  to  every  kind  of 
negative  thought.  We  have  the  so-called  very 
old  and  those  “past  middle  life,”  who  are  fret- 
ting their  hearts  out  because  of  the  loss  of 
beauty  and  the  expected  approach  of  infirmi- 
ties. We  have  the  young  man  and  the  maiden, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  the  dear  little  children. 
There  is  a great  work  to  be  done  for  each  and 
all  of  these.  The  work  with  the  child  is  by  far 
the  easiest.  Children  are  passive,  receptive, 
natural,  teachable.  They  have  nothing  to 
unlearn,  and  are  utterly  without  prejudice. 

We  have  found  that  nothing  is  impossible 
when  the  Ego  has  learned  to  recognize  its  own 
divinity.  We  have  learned  that  this  is  the 
bed-rock  upon  which  every  material,  moral, 
and  spiritual  structure  must  be  reared.  “ Oth- 
er foundation  there  is  none.”  For  thousands 
of  years  men  have  built  upon  the  shifting 
sands.  Most  of  them  were  half  dead  to  start 
with — the  majority  unwished  for  and  unwel- 


7 2 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


come,  ushered  into  families  that  had  no  use 
for  them — by  the  lustful  use  of  the  great  crea- 
tive principle.  Of  course  they  were  half  dead 
when  they  were  born.  As  if  that  were  not 
enough,  precedent  decreed  that  the  live  half 
should  immediately  commence  to  die. 

“ If  you  do  this  you  will  be  sick.  If  you 
eat  that  you  will  die.  If  you  are  not  a good 
child  you  cannot  go  to  heaven.  Mamma  will 
punish  you  and  God  will  punish  you.” 

This  is  the  kind  of  teaching  that  the  young 
and  plastic  mind  has  had  from  time  imme- 
morial. Are  we  not  strong  enough  even  now 
to  at  least  hamper  and  harass  this  death-deal- 
ing, old-age-breeding  curriculum?  I am  sure 
that  we  are,  if  we  all  attend  to  our  business  by 
speaking  the  right  word  and  administering 
the  strong  blow  against  the  walls  of  creed  and 
tradition  whenever  we  have  opportunity  to  do 
so ; and  surely  there  can  be  no  lack  of  that. 

The  prevention  of  old  age,  so  far  as  treat- 
ment in  this  small  volume  is  concerned,  must 
principally  concern  those  persons  who  have 
reached  a point  where  they  begin  to  observe 
and  acutely  dread  their  own  decadence.  How 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  73 

shall  they  prevent  the  further  processes  of 
decay  ? 

First,  as  I have  tried  to  make  plain  in  pre- 
vious chapters,  by  the  recognition  of  the  “ I 
am  ” in  themselves.  As  long  as  they  depend 
upon  an  unapproachable  God  in  the  far-off 
realm  of  nowhere,  they  will  sicken,  grow  old, 
and  die.  This  lesson  has  been  taught  by  cen- 
turies of  suffering  and  heartbreak.  We  need 
not  emphasize  it  except  in  the  attempt  to  in- 
duce our  readers  to  discard  from  their  minds 
the  cut-and-dried  conclusion  that  because  a 
certain  order  of  things  has  always  obtained  it 
always  must.  We  once  studied  our  lessons  by 
the  light  of  a tallow  candle.  If  the  arc  light 
had  been  predicted  at  that  time  it  would  have 
been  considered  blasphemous.  “ If  God  had 
intended  a better  light  than  the  candle  he 
would  have  given  it  to  us,”  the  wise  in  their 
own  conceit  would  have  argued.  But  we  have 
the  arc  light  now,  and  a thousand  other  al- 
most inconceivable  things,  which  I trust  the 
dear  ones  of  the  tallow-dip  era  observe  and 
enjoy  with  us.  I am  sure  that  they  do, 
though  this  conviction,  founded  upon  knowl- 


^4  THE  prevention  and 

edge,  will  doubtless  seem  as  heretical  and 
absurd  to  some  of  our  readers  as  other  state- 
ments in  the  science  of  being. 

But  how  beautiful  it  is!  When  one  abso- 
lutely knows  a thing  one  is  never  disturbed 
by  what  other  people  think.  Having  done  all, 
we  stand  and  wait  for  further  light,  which  is 
never  denied  the  honest  seeker. 

To  prevent  old  age  we  must  realize  our 
right  to  life,  health,  and  good  looks,  and  exer- 
cise that  right  continually. 

There  are  grades  of  realization.  No  one 
has  yet  come  to  a perfect  recognition  of  his 
own  God-power.  When  that  time  does  come 
— and  it  is  coming — this  world  will  be  the 
theatre  of  events  that  have  never  been  ap- 
proached in  the  history  of  the  world.  Those 
who  have  ears  to  hear  let  them  listen. 

In  this  matter  a few  persons  stand  conspicu- 
ously in  the  foreground.  They  “have  not  yet 
attained,”  but  they  are  fast  attaining.  But 
many  are  pressing  on  with  more  or  less  diffi- 
culty. They  have  turned  away  from  every 
other  method  of  finding  happiness,  and  success 
is  assured. 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


75 


The  following  is  a copy  of  a letter  from  an 
enthusiastic  worker,  which  seems  to  me 
as  fitting  an  introduction  to  many  other 
points  which  I wish  to  cover  as  any  I could 
select ; 

“Dear  Friend: 

“Won’t  you  please  write  something  for  the 
folks  who  daily  observe  the  approach  of  ' the 
sere  and  yellow,  ’ and  who  feel  that  such  de- 
cay is  very  mean  and  unnecessary?  Your 
‘ Perpetual  Youth  has  done  me  no  end  of 
good.  Without  that  I should  have  grown 
too  discouraged  to  care  whether  I lived  or 
died. 

“ Now  I want  to  know  something  about  pro- 
cesses— ways  and  means — I am  a Sagittarius 
woman,  and  practical  in  the  extreme.  I know 
to  my  perfect  satisfaction  that  the  starting- 
point  is  realization,  and  I am  getting  there  as 
fast  as  I can.  I lived  to  be  forty  years  old 
without  a glimmer  of  an  idea  that  I had  any- 
thing to  do  with  my  own  soul  except  that  I 
must  not  lie,  steal,  murder,  commit  adultery, 
or  bear  false  witness  against  my  neighbor.  I 
never  had  the  slightest  desire  to  do  either. 
My  body  was  to  be  kept  clean  and  wholesome 
and  clothed  according  to  my  means.  When  I 


76 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


was  poor  I wore  prints,  and  when  I was  rich 
purple  and  fine  linen.  In  short,  I conformed 
to  every  condition  with  a grace  and  humility 
which  I supposed  was  very  pleasing  to  God. 
In  this  cheerful  salaaming  to  what  I consid- 
ered God’s  law,  I grew  round-shouldered  both 
in  mind  and  body.  One  day  I awoke  to  the 
fact  that  I had  greatly  changed.  Why  that 
particular  day  I cannot  tell  you.  Perhaps  I 
had  been  too  busy,  too  absorbed  in  the  ever- 
lasting round  of  social  functions  to  notice  this 
transformation,  but  the  revelation  almost 
paralyzed  me.  When  I spoke  to  my  husband 
about  it  he  said  calmly,  4 Why,  yes,  Anna. 
You  have  been  falling  off  for  some  time.’ 
Then  I began  to  cry,  and  reproached  him  for 
not  having  told  me. 

“ ‘ But  what  good  would  it  have  done?’  he 
asked. 

“ ‘ Why,  I would  have  painted  and  powdered 
and  put  on  some  extra  frills,  taken  more  pains 
with  my  toilet ■’ 

“ ‘None  of  those  things  will  ever  cover  up — 
that,’  he  interrupted,  “and  paint  and  powder 
will  only  make  you  a laughing-stock.’ 

“ This  was  unutterably  awful.  This  change 
in  me  could  only  be  described  by  ‘that.’  Had 
I been  a leper  I could  not  have  felt  more  hu- 
miliated, more  of  an  outcast;  and  yet  that 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


77 


blessed  man  had  no  intention  of  conveying 
such  an  idea. 

“ Most  people  will  say  that  I was  led  en- 
tirely by  my  vanity  into  what  is  called  * The 
New  Thought.’  Possibly  this  verdict  is  cor- 
rect. It  is  true  that  I had  not  felt  well  or 
strong  for  some  time,  and  off  and  on  had  been 
under  the  care  of  a physician,  but  these  things 
had  not  roused  me  to  seek  a better  way.  The 
reflection  in  the  mirror  did.  I am  thus  ex- 
plicit because  I wish  you  to  make  no  mistake 
in  my  motive,  and  I will  also  say  that  by  un- 
derstanding this  case  you  will  get  at  the  true 
inwardness  of  many  other  cases.  Since  my 
curious  awakening  I have  talked  with  several 
women  who  were  brought  to  their  senses  by 
the  loss  of  their  beauty  and  by  no  other  cause. 
If  this  is  vanity,  thank  the  Lord  for  vanity. 

“ Now  in  regard  to  processes.  The  knowl- 
edge that  there  is  no  one  in  the  universe  to 
dispute  my  right  to  health,  beauty,  and  hap- 
piness lifted  me  at  once  to  a place  of  safety — 
a place  of  intelligence  to  grow  from.  But  I 
grow  slowly.  True,  I have  no  doctor  and  take 
no  medicine  in  these  bright  days.  I am 
stronger  and  have  improved  in  looks.  Still, 
certain  things  that  I eat  disagree  with  me,  or 
I think  they  do.  Some  of  the  things  that  I 
used  to  like  are  simply  disgusting  to  me  now 


78 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


— meat,  for  one  thing — and  yet  I fear  that  I 
cannot  be  properly  nourished  without  meat. 
A good  scientist,  I am  told,  should  be  able  to 
eat,  digest,  and  assimilate  anything  or  any 
combination  of  things,  however  rich.  I could 
do  this  far  more  successfully  before  I ever 
heard  of  the  new  thought  than  now.  Accord- 
ing to  Christian  Science  as  it  has  been  ex- 
plained to  me,  this  is  all  wrong,  but  I cannot 
make  it  seem  wrong. 

“ Query : Is  it  not  as  scientific  for  one  to  use 
his  mind  in  the  choice  of  things  and  methods 
that  are  agreeable  and  appear  sensible  and 
helpful,  as  it  is  to  spend  all  one’s  time  in  treat- 
ing one’s  stomach  to  take  care  of  stuff  that  the 
stomach  doesn’t  want  and  refuses  point-blank 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  ? 

“ It  appears  to  me  that  every  day  more  and 
more  godly  helps  are  disclosed  to  me.  Should 
I use  them,  or  should  I not?  ” 

The  matter  of  personal  vanity  has  been 
treated  in  another  chapter.  The  desire  to  be 
beautiful  is  the  God  in  us  crying  out  for  ex- 
pression. This  being  the  case  it  is  not  at  all 
strange,  in  the  least  wrong,  or  anything  to 
be  ashamed  of,  that  Truth  is  sought  through 
the  gates  of  Beauty.  It  is  a perfectly  legiti- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


79 


mate  passageway,  and  blessed  indeed  are  all 
who  cross  that  threshold.  They  may  not  for 
some  time  recover  their  long  - shadowed 
charms,  but  they  will  constantly  feel  the  throb 
of  a new  life,  and  will  know  that  the  work  of 
rehabilitation  is  going  on.  This  is  a great 
comfort  to  be  sure,  but  it  is  a very  difficult 
matter  for  those  expectant  and  impatient  ones 
to  keep  from  watching  for  results.  They 
seem  to  think  that  they  can  build  up  in  a few 
weeks  that  which  they  have  been  all  their 
lives  tearing  down. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  least  miraculous 
or  supernatural  about  this  work.  The  right 
thought  steadfastly  held  will  materialize  the 
right  conditions,  or  truth  is  not  truth.  It 
may  be  sooner  or  later,  according  to  the 
desire,  faith,  and  will  of  the  individual,  but 
there  is  no  lack  of  time,  and  so  there  is  no 
hurry.  We  have  “all  the  time  there  is,” — a 
beautiful  thought  when  one  is  able  to  com- 
prehend it.  The  main  thing  is  to  emerge 
from  the  darkness.  This  is  usually  accom- 
plished by  degrees,  but,  “thanks  be  to  God 
who  giveth  us  the  victory,”  even  a glimpse 


8o 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


of  the  true  light  is  sufficient  to  start  one  on 
his  forward  way.  More  and  more  illumina- 
tion follows  as  he  makes  himself  receptive 
to  it.  It  is  only  necessary  for  us  conscien- 
tiously to  use  the  light  of  each  day  to  realize 
a stronger  one  on  each  morrow. 

Impatience  here,  as  everywhere  else,  is  a 
great  deterrent  force,  and  should  be  swept  out 
with  the  rest  of  the  error  thoughts  that  have 
kept  the  world  in  bondage.  Our  pain  may 
not  all  go  to-day,  our  purse  may  not  yet  be 
quite  full  enough  for  our  needs,  and  the 
wrinkles  may  not  seem  any  less  deep,  but  as 
long  as  we  know  that  we  have  turned  our 
faces  to  the  light  we  have  everything  to  gain 
and  nothing  to  lose.  Above  all  things,  let  us 
cultivate  the 


Sense  of  Security. 

We  are  secure.  There  is  no  one  to  molest 
or  make  us  afraid.  We  are  more  or  less  con- 
scious that  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being 
in  God.  We  are  in  him  and  he  in  us,  and 
there  never  was  and  never  can  be  any  sepa- 
rateness. 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  8 1 

With  this  thought  always  uppermost  in  our 
minds,  what  is  there  to  be  disturbed  about? 
This  sense  of  security  accomplishes  wonderful 
growing.  The  hurry  of  impatience,  on  the 
contrary,  has  the  effect  of  a heavy  weight 
upon  our  spiritual  feet,  retarding  our  prog- 
ress and  balking  our  desires. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  pregnant  truths  in 
the  prevention  of  old  age,  or  in  the  prevention 
of  any  other  disagreeable  and  negative  condi- 
tion. 

We  have  been  restless  and  dissatisfied  long 
enough.  Let  us  now  come  into  the  kingdom 
of  peace.  This  kingdom  is  accessible  to  all 
who  seek  it. 

Our  correspondent’s  communication  will  be 
considered  more  in  detail  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PROCESSES. 

The  present  state  of  our  unfoldment  is  one 
of  experiment.  Two-thirds  of  the  students 
along  mental  science  lines  are  in  the  same 
condition  as  the  writer  of  this  letter.  They 
are  more  or  less  troubled  about  many  things. 
They  are  earnest  and  determined,  but  this 
teacher  says  so  and  so,  and  that  healer  de- 
clares something  entirely  opposite.  Then 
there  are  the  friends  and  companions  who 
have  not  yet  commenced  to  stir  from  their 
sleep,  and  who  talk  and  act  as  persons  always 
do  when  they  are  ignorant  of  what  they  are 
talking  about. 

Now,  whether  in  the  prevention  or  the  cure 
of  old  age,  these  things  must  be  determinedly 
put  out  of  mind.  It  is  no  sort  of  consequence 
what  anybody  thinks  or  says.  The  rules  and 
regulations  which  seem  so  important  to  others 
are  not  for  you  unless  you  choose  to  make 


PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  83 

them  so.  Some  of  our  friends  came  into  the 
New  Thought  through  a very  narrow  door. 
It  was  a tight  squeeze,  but  it  hasn’t  harmed 
a son  or  daughter  among  them.  „ They  are 
bound  to  grow  into  the  liberty  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ;  and  no  jurisdiction  however  emi- 
nent, no  man-made  law  however  stringent, 
can  hinder  this  process.  Their  feet  are 
turned  Zionward,  and  they  are  making  good 
progress.  As  expressions  of  a loving  and 
omnipotent  God,  divine  from  the  first  brain 
cell  to  the  last  atom,  we  cannot  be  critical 
concerning  the  methods  of  others.  We  can 
bid  them  God-speed,  go  our  own  way,  rejoic- 
ing in  our  freedom  to  do  precisely  as  we 
please. 

Personally  I did  not  come  into  this  domain 
of  thought  by  means  of  any  school  or  sect, 
nor  did  I have  any  sectarian  limits  to  grow 
out  of.  The  impossibility  of  overcoming  ill- 
ness and  trouble  in  any  other  way  drove  me 
into  a heaven  right  here  and  now ; and  here  I 
am  proud  and  happy  to  stay.  This  condition 
is  somewhat  exceptional,  but  do  not  imagine 
that  there  was  not  and  is  not  plenty  of  over- 


84 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


coming  to  do.  The  heaven  consisted  at  first 
of  the  knowledge  that  not  only  was  this  the 
domain  of  truth,  but  that  there  was  no  other. 
This  was  heaven  enough  for  a little  while. 
The  assurance  that  one  positively  knows 
something  worth  knowing,  after  years  spent 
in  a fruitless  quest  after  health  and  peace  of 
mind,  is  bliss  unutterable,  and  there  was  one 
woman  who  placed  upon  it  the  highest  possi- 
ble valuation. 

There  is  nothing  monotonous  about  the 
Creative  Principle.  Some  persons  seem  born 
to  lead,  and  others  to  follow.  Then  there  are 
those  who  are  laws  unto  themselves.  They 
find  out  they  are  right,  and  then,  as  Davy 
Crockett  recommends,  “go  ahead.”  They 
have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  confer 
with  their  fellows  on  matters  of  doctrine. 

“Get  out  of  my  way,”  they  say.  “I  have 
put  off  the  old  man  and  am  putting  on  the  new 
as  fast  and  as  thoroughly  as  T can.  In  the 
mean  time  if  you  don’t  like  the  garments  I am 
adopting,  look  the  other  way.  My  robe  is 
gray  to-day;  it  may  be  green  to-morrow.  I 
am  experimenting,  and  in  the  mean  time  am 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


85 


open  to  your  charges  of  inconsistency ; but  I 
ask  no  odds  of  any  of  you.  Some  time  per- 
haps I shall  choose  purple  or  the  pure  white 
of  the  spirit.  In  the  mean  time  clear  the 
track,  for  nothing  can  stay  my  course.” 

This  is  the  spirit  to  cultivate.  These  ten- 
dencies which  we  call  natural,  and  which  lead 
us  to  bow  and  beg,  ask  advice  and  follow  the 
bell-sheep,  are  the  garments  of  the  old  man. 
It  is  easy  sometimes  to  put  off  a coat  or  a col- 
lar and  necktie,  metaphorically  speaking,  but 
the  other  vestments  stick  like  burrs  when  we 
try  to  lay  them  aside.  But  here  is  the  place 
for  patience.  Stop  worrying  about  them,  and 
the  first  thing  we  know  they  drop  off  appar- 
ently of  their  own  accord. 

This  is  an  unceasing  wonder  to  me.  Fear 
of  trouble,  accidents,  sickness  and  death — not 
for  myself,  but  for  those  I loved — made  my 
life  an  indescribable  purgatory.  For  myself 
I never  had  the  slightest  apprehension. 
When  I stopped  to  reason  about  this  singular 
condition,  I would  tell  myself  that  some  time 
I should  die  because  everybody  else  did ; but 
I am  quite  sure  now  that  I never  quite  be- 


86 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


lieved  the  story.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I had 
some  sort  of  a clutch  upon  the  life  principle 
that  others  did  not  have.  In  those  days  I 
gave  utterance  to  some  statements  that  horri- 
fied the  clergy  and  mortified  my  family ; but 
these  words  were  powerless  because  I could 
give  no  reason  for  them.  The  thought  of 
what  seemed  to  me  should  be  was  quickly 
made  null  and  void  by  the  fact  of  what  was 
and  what  always  had  been.  My  clear  glimpse 
of  God’s  truth  was  quickly  swept  aside  by 
creed  and  precedent.  I know  all  about  it 
now,  and  can  Smile  at  some  of  the  impotent 
tussles  I indulged  in,  and  which  must  have 
won  for  me  the  reputation  of  a high  grade  of 
idiocy. 

But  this  fear  for  others!  What  an  inde- 
scribable torture  it  was ! It  seemed  a real  en- 
tity sometimes,  for  it  stalked  about  with  me 
wherever  I went.  As  may  be  imagined,  this 
was  one  of  the  first  things  to  which  I turned 
my  attention  after  I had  found  this  platform 
of  truth  to  stand  upon.  Some  other  condi- 
tions were  at  once  improved,  but  there  wasn’t 
a statement  I could  make,  or  a thought  that  I 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


87 


could  think,  which  had  the  least  effect  upon 
these  apprehensions  of  evil.  Indeed,  for 
some  time  there  was  a decided  aggravation  of 
the  state.  This  was  most  discouraging.  One 
night  after  a very  disagreeable  skirmish  with 
these  strong-as-death  negations,  I opened  the 
Bible  and  read,  “ Cast  thy  burden  upon  the 
Lord.”  I had  come  to  the  place  where  I al- 
most believed  that  the  Lord  God  Almighty — 
not  all  the  Lord  God  Almighty  there  is — re- 
sided within  myself,  and  that  this  Lord  was 
able  to  do  what  seemed  to  me  very  difficult 
things  if  I would  only  trust  him.  “Cast  thy 
burden  upon  the  Lord.”  Cast  it.  That 
meant  that  the  most  intelligent  part  of  myself, 
which  went  by  the  name  of  “I,”  should  take 
this  cowardly  fear  and  cast  it  on  to  the  still 
higher  self,  the  God-self,  with  which  part  I 
had  not  been  very  intimate.  So  to  the  very 
best  of  my  ability  I obeyed  the  command,  de- 
claring that  whether  it  stayed  “ cast  ” or  re- 
turned to  me  in  its  full  pristine  vigor,  I 
would  make  no  more  fuss  about  it.  So  com- 
pletely did  I fulfil  these  conditions,  that  for 
several  days  I lost  all  consciousness  of  fear  as 


88 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


well  as  of  all  thought  of  what  I had  done  to 
overcome  this  habit  which  for  so  many  years 
had  kept  me  in  such  abject  bondage.  You 
see  this  was  real  giving  up,  a genuine  casting 
of  the  burden  upon  the  Lord.  There  was  no 
string  attached  to  the  renunciation.  One 
day,  in  the  simplest  manner  possible,  it 
dawned  upon  me  that  I was  no  longer  afraid, 
and  that  many  things  had  recently  occurred 
which  once  would  have  tried  me  almost  be- 
yond my  ability  to  bear.  I must  have  been 
working  up  to  this  vantage-ground  for  some 
time.  Then  came  the  desire  for  the  spoken 
word,  which  was  supplied  by  this  passage  of 
Scripture.  It  was  just  the  right  moment  in 
my  unfoldment  for  this  oft-quoted  line  to  do 
its  work. 

Some  one  will  ask,  “ But  who  sent  you  to  the 
Bible?  How  did  it  happen?  Why  couldn’t 
you  have  received  this  help  long  before?  ” 

These  were  all  natural  interior  processes, 
and  can  no  more  be  explained  than  the  flower 
can  be  explained  from  the  seed.  We  plant  the 
seed,  and  if  we  unearth  it  a few  weeks  later, 
we  see  that  something  has  taken  place.  There 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


89 


is  a growth,  but  this  change  is  quite  inexplic- 
able. If  we  allow  the  seed  to  remain  undis- 
turbed in  the  bosom  of  its  mother,  the  first 
thing  we  know  a little  green  speck  appears 
upon  the  surface,  and  we  say,  “ Behold,  the 
seed  has  sprouted.”  If  we  could  only  consign 
all  of  our  spiritual  seed  to  the  darkness  and 
silence  as  we  trust  the  seed  which  never  fails 
to  brighten  and  to  nourish  the  material  world, 
we  should  be  wise  indeed.  With  a few  per- 
sons this  time  has  already  come.  They  sow 
the  seed  and  let  it  alone.  They  speak  the 
word  and  it  stands  fast. 

All  earnest  workers  will  have  tales  like 
these  to  tell.  This  obstacle,  which  seemed 
insuperable,  was  rolled  away.  They  did  not 
even  know  when  it  went.  They  admit  that 
perhaps  for  a long  time  they  had  affirmed 
their  superiority  to  such  bondage,  but  in  the 
hour  that  they  knew  not  of,  the  Son  of  Man 
came  forth  and  set  the  captive  free.  These 
conclusions  always  came  “in  the  hour  that 
ye  know  not  of,”  and  these  spiritual  climaxes 
are  as  absolutely  unfailing  as  those  we  call 
material  ones. 


9° 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


You  have  recognized  for  a longer  or  a 
shorter  period  that  you  were  growing  old,  or 
that  you  are  old.  Your  eyes  are  growing 
dim,  or  are  dim.  Your  hair  is  turning  gray, 
or  is  gray  or  white.  To  look  at  yourself  in 
the  mirror  is  a more  trying  ordeal  than  a sur- 
gical operation.  You  have  been  ill  and  des- 
pondent and  afflicted  for  years;  at  least,  this 
is  what  you  tell  yourself.  And  now  you  are 
reaping  the  consequences  of  your  worry,  anx- 
iety, and  sorrow.  You  have  lost  your  money, 
buried  your  friends,  swallowed  drugs,  so- 
journed in  hospitals  or  health  retreats,  crossed 
and  recrossed  the  ocean  in  search  of  health 
and  happiness,  and  here  you  are,  old,  ill-look- 
ing, and  very,  very  disheartened.  Maybe 
you  have  had  your  faces  enamelled  or  skinned 
and  your  hair  dyed.  But  there  is  no  way  of 
deceiving  the  elect;  and  the  elect  is  the  un- 
recognized God  within  yourself.  At  last  hav- 
ing boxed  the  compass  of  materia  medica  and 
the  art  of  the  masseur  and  facial  decorator, 
you  arrived  at  the  place  where  you  recognized 
that  there  was  no  enduring  help  in  any  of  these 
things.  All  the  time  the  Lord  God  Almighty 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


9* 


is  waiting  within  you  to  show  forth  his  mar- 
vellous power,  but  you  have  been  as  dead  to  it 
as  the  black  earth  is  dead  in  consciousness  to 
the  seed  that  is  dropped  into  it.  In  fact,  the 
Lord  God  Almighty  has  been  at  work  every 
moment  of  the  time,  and  has  softly  breathed 
into  you  the  breath  of  life  as  you  went  on  in 
your  experimental  work.  These  experiences 
were  all  good,  because,  as  you  have  proved, 
nothing  else  would  ever  bring  you  to  a knowl- 
edge of  their  futility  as  happiness  producers. 

The  majority  of  the  people  who  have  be- 
come interested  in  Mental  or  Christian  science 
have  commenced  their  investigations  from  the 
standpoint  of  utter  dissatisfaction  and  disgust 
with  everything  else.  It  is  all  Greek  to  them, 
but  they  have  listened  to  the  wonderful  sto- 
ries of  dominion  over  sickness  and  poverty, 
and  they  have  turned  to  these  methods  as 
drowning  men  clutch  at  straws.  A little  ex- 
perimenting proves  that  there  is  a saving 
power  in  mind,  and  they  open  themselves  to 
the  light  as  the  flowers  to  the  morning  sun. 
Success  begets  enthusiasm,  and  for  a time 
everything  seems  changed  for  the  better. 


92 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


After  a while  they  note  that  this  pain,  which 
has  been  such  a hindrance  to  them,  has  not 
entirely  gone,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 
betterment  in  appearance.  They  have  a little 
more  money  than  formerly,  or  their  newly  ac- 
quired wisdom  causes  it  to  go  further  than  it 
ever  did  before. 

This  is  the  place  for  patience,  and  a casting 
of  the  burden  upon  the  Lord.  It  is  a wise 
thing  to  keep  this  advice  in  mind  and  to  make 
frequent  trials  of  its  potency  if  the  first  efforts 
do  not  succeed.  But  this  must  not  be  done  in 
any  spirit  of  haste  or  anxiety.  Be  assured 
that  all  is  going  well  with  you,  whether  you 
are  constantly  aware  of  this  fact  or  not.  Bear 
in  mind  the  truth  that  you  must  be  a law  unto 
yourselves.  No  battle  can  be  won  without  in- 
dividuality. If  some  one  tells  you  that  you 
cannot  be  a good  scientist  unless  you  eat 
everything  that  he  or  she  eats,  make  no  re- 
sponse, but  partake  of  what  you  find  most 
agreeable  and  that  which  appears  best  suited 
to  your  condition.  If  you  are  told,  as  I have 
been,  that  physical  exercise  is  entirely  unne- 
cessary to  those  who  are  “in  the  thought,” 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


93 


hold  your  peace,  but  don’t  believe  a word  of 
it.  It  is  not  so;  neither  is  it  true  that  to 
prove  one’s  scientific  understanding  it  is  im- 
portant to  eat  baked  beans,  mince  pie,  and 
Rochefort  cheese  at  one  sitting.  If  you  think 
coffee  makes  you  nervous  and  keeps  you  from 
proper  rest  at  night,  let  coffee  alone,  though 
all  the  world  drinks  coffee  and  does  not  wake 
from  ten  o’clock  till  six.  Spend  your  forces 
for  something  better  and  higher  and  nobler 
than  in  the  endeavor  to  make  your  stomach 
harmonize  with  your  palate.  If  you  prefer 
whole  uncooked  wheat,  apples,  and  raw  pota- 
toes to  roast  beef  and  pastry,  take  your  com- 
fort with  your  own  peculiar  diet,  but  don’t  in- 
sist upon  your  neighbor’s  adopting  it.  Some 
of  the  healthiest,  happiest,  and  most  useful 
persons  that  I know  eat  neither  flesh,  fish, 
nor  fowl,  and  prefer  raw  food  to  cooked. 
Who  am  I that  I should  criticise  their  meth- 
ods, or  talk  them  into  doing  as  I do? 

The  same  rules  apply  both  to  the  Preven- 
tion and  the  Cure  of  Old  Age.  First  we  must 
find  the  God  in  ourselves.  This  furnishes  a 
sure  foundation  to  stand  upon,  as  we  make 


94  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

use  of  all  the  helps  that  Omniscience  has  pro- 
vided for  our  use.  There  is  literally  no  end 
to  these  aids.  They  are  to  be  found  in  the 
scientific  exercises  that  well-trained  brains 
have  given  to  the  world ; in  the  selection  of 
foods  and  the  adaptation  to  our  needs  and 
desires  of  the  very  best  things  we  can  find 
in  the  material,  psychic,  and  spiritual  atmos- 
phere. 

First,  the  God  in  ourselves. 

Second,  faith  and  patience  in  working  out 
our  problems,  whether  in  the  recovery  from 
old  age  or  in  checking  the  advance  of  the 
enemy  so  much  dreaded  by  all. 

Third,  in  supplementing  these  processes 
of  rehabilitation  in  every  sensible,  so-called 
material  manner. 

Some  of  these  helps  will  be  stated  in 
another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


IN  MATERIAL  THINGS. 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  authentic- 
ity of  the  Scriptures  in  regard  to  the  advanced 
ages  of  many  of  the  men  and  women  of  the 
Old  Testament  time.  Indeed,  our  most  scien- 
tific scholars  declare  that  these  stories  are 
facts,  and  that  the  years  at  that  period  in 
the  world’s  history  correspond  exactly  to  the 
length  of  our  years.  This  latter  statement 
is  clearly  proven  by  astronomical  and  astro- 
logical data.  So  when  we  read  that  Methu- 
saleh  lived  to  be  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
years  old,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
story.  This  has  seemed  such  an  astonishing 
tale  to  the  majority  of  thinkers  that  a great 
effort  has  been  made  to  prove  that  this  fine 
old  fellow  in  reality  had  no  more  claim  to 
longevity  than  the  centenarians  of  our  day, 
because  of  a different  way  of  computing  time. 
But  this  reasoning  has  been  shown  to  be  falla- 


96 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


cious,  and  now  there  is  no  reason  to  offer  for 
this  extraordinary  length  of  days,  except  that 
this  ancient  worthy  and  others  who  improved 
upon  the  threescore  and  ten  limit  did  so  be- 
cause of  the  perfect  simplicity  of  their  lives. 
We  are  told  that  they  ate  herbs  and  lived  out 
of  doors. 

That  Methusaleh  and  his  brethren  kept 
very  close  to  the  heart  of  nature  is  an  indis- 
putable fact,  but  whether  they  lived  entirely 
on  herbs  or  not  we  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing. If  herbs  constituted  the  main  part  of 
Methusaleh’s  nutriment,  I should  like  to  go 
and  gather  some  of  the  same  kind.  If  he  ate 
them  from  the  stalks,  that  is  what  I would  do. 
If  he  stewed  them  I would  follow  his  lead. 
Any  man  who  could  live  in  the  flesh  on  this 
planet  for  almost  a thousand  years  is  a good 
enough  example  for  me.  In  the  matter  of 
herbs  my  education  is  exceedingly  limited, 
but  I would  be  willing  to  chew  catnip  indef- 
initely, if  that  was  what  Methusaleh  found 
good  for  him. 

This  will  doubtless  sound  very  unscientific 
to  some  of  our  readers.  “ As  if  it  made  any 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


97 


difference  what  one  ate,”  they  will  say. 
“ And  the  idea  of  going  back  to  the  dark  ages 
for  examples.” 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  it 
does  make  a difference  what  one  eats,  and  the 
age  that  can  produce  a Methusaleh  is  the  age 
that  suits  me.  I suppose  he  ate  when  he  was 
hungry,  drank  when  he  was  thirsty,  and  slept 
when  he  was  sleepy.  He  was  not  kept  out 
nights  by  his  club,  or  perplexed  by  his  inabil- 
ity to  met  his  club  dues.  He  did  not  keep  his 
stomach  constantly  stuffed  and  fermented  by 
roasts  and  fries,  stewed  calves’  brains,  pig's 
kidneys,  rich  pastry,  wine  and  beer.  Perhaps 
if  these  things  had  been  in  evidence  at  that 
time,  Methusaleh  would  have  upset  his  stom- 
ach and  shortened  his  days  the  same  as  his 
feebler  brethren  are  now  doing.  That  is  why 
I say  that  the  simplicity  of  the  Methusaleh 
age  is  very  attractive  to  me.  As  the  wise 
man  declared,  “ Man  has  sought  out  many  in- 
ventions,” and  it  does  seem  as  if  the  influence 
of  these  products  of  man’s  brain  had  been  to 
keep  the  whole  world  wallowing  in  sin  and 
misery. 


98 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


“ Pessimistic?  ” 

That  depends  upon  the  point  of  view.  If 
the  desire  for  well-established  health,  per- 
petual youth,  and  all  the  life  we  want  right 
here  on  this  faithful  little  planet  is  pessi- 
mistic, I plead  guilty  to  the  charge ; but  who 
with  a single  well-developed  brain  cell  could 
fail  to  turn  a longing  glance  to  the  time  when 
men  and  women  were  well  and  strong,  when 
food  was  not  adulterated  and  folks  knew  what 
they  were  eating,  even  if  it  was  herbs  with 
perhaps  a sprinkling  of  wild  honey. 

That  these  stalwart  long-livers  of  the  olden 
time  were  to  a degree  conscious  of  their  right 
to  life,  liberty,  and  happiness,  I do  not  doubt. 
How  much  they  recognized  their  divinity, 
their  oneness  with  the  Infinite,  it  is  difficult  to 
tell,  but  there  must  have  been  something  that 
kept  them  going  besides  herbs  and  fresh  air. 
Consciously  or  unconsciously  they  realized 
their  power  to  make  conditions  for  them- 
selves, and  they  made  them.  A man  who 
could  live  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years 
could  live  forever  if  he  so  elected.  Probably 
by  the  time  Methusaleh  got  to  be  seven  or 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


99 


eight  hundred  years  old — just  a boy — some- 
body started  in  with  a “ new  invention  ” which 
caused  him  to  begin  to  think  that  he  was  not 
on  the  right  track.  There  might  have  been 
“I  Want  to  be  an  Angel,”  or  a “Sweet  By 
and  By  ” flavor  to  the  new  thought  or  thing. 
Then  he  began  to  shift  his  will  and  desire 
from  the  present  to  the  future — that  future  in 
the  skies  which  has  done  more  than  anything 
else  to  sap  the  vitality  of  the  whole  race. 

Now  I have  never  interviewed  Methusaleh ; 
but  did  I think  he  would  heed  my  call,  I 
would  shout  to  him  a trumpet  peal,  if  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  find  out  what  he  really 
did  eat  and  drink.  It  might  not  be  easy  to 
stop  there,  for  I should  also  want  to  know 
how  far  the  true  God-thought  held  possession 
of  him. 

I may  get  Methusaleh  on  my  spiritual  tele- 
phone yet.  This  instrument  is  really  getting 
into  fine  operation.  When  he  answers  I will 
tell  you  everything  he  says. 

I once  had  a spell  of  thinking  that  I would 
rather  have  written  “ The  Sweet  By  and 
By  ” than  any  classic  I had  ever  read.  But  I 


IOO 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


have  changed  my  mind.  I wouldn’t  now 
have  the  responsibility  of  those  verses  on  my 
shoulders  for  all  the  gold  in  the  Klondike. 
Had  I been  the  author  I should  have  taken  it 
all  back  before  this,  and  so  have  made  peace 
with  my  conscience.  Think  of  intelligent 
beings  who  hate  to  grow  old,  and  who  are 
striving  to  hold  on  to  their  good  looks  and 
to  prolong  life,  making  a practice  of  singing 
“The  Sweet  By  and  By.”. 

“ Why  do  you  keep  on  singing  that  song?  ” 
I asked  of  a friend,  who,  wearied  and  dis- 
gusted with  every  other  attempt  to  find  health 
and  happiness,  had  finally  turned  to  the  New 
Thought. 

“ Why,  I sing  it  because  it  is  beautiful,”  she 
answered  as  the  tears  of  weakness  and  habit 
rolled  down  her  cheeks.  “Why  shouldn’t  I 
sing  it?  ” 

“You  should  if  you  desire  to,”  I told  her, 
“but  you  will  never  make  any  headway  in 
overcoming  while  you  do  so.  You  cannot  oc- 
cupy two  places  at  the  same  time.  You 
cannot  live  in  the  sweet  by  and  by  and  at- 
tend to  the  things  which  demand  your  atten- 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


lot 

tion  right  here  and  now.  Every  thought 
you  put  into  the  future  robs  the  present. 
Every  tear  that  you  shed  starts  into  action 
the  machinery  which  ploughs  furrows  in  the 
face  and  presses  the  life  force  from  the 
body.  I sang  that  song  myself  until  I looked 
like  a spook,  and  all  my  friends  considered 
me  ‘ as  good  as  gone.’  I thought  it  put  me 
into  communication  with  those  I loved.  Per- 
haps it  did;  but  if  so,  it  was  anything  but 
a healthy  relation.  As  an  inclined  plane 
toward  dissolution  I consider  those  verses  the 
easiest  and  the  best  oiled  of  any  that  I have 
ever  known.  You  can  slide  down  to  music 
sure  enough.” 

If  these  arguments  are  as  conclusive  with 
my  readers  as  they  were  with  my  audience 
of  one,  the  result  will  be  most  satisfactory. 
She  saw  the  point,  and  decided  to  concen- 
trate her  energies  on  life  more  abundantly 
right  here  and  now.  The  consequence  was 
a renewed  vitality,  a sensible,  healthful  look 
in  her  face  instead  of  the  weak,  far-away  and 
vacant  expression  which  had  so  long  held 
sway. 


102 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


To  those  who  have  felt  that  this  much-sung 
song  is  a sweet  connecting  link  between  the 
seen  and  the  unseen,  the  foregoing  strictures 
will  doubtless  seem  very  heartless  as  well  as 
severe.  But  they  cannot  fail  to  take  a differ- 
ent view  of  the  matter  when  I assure  them 
that  I fully  believe  in  the  continued  existence 
of  the  individual,  and  in  his  ability  under  cer- 
tain conditions  to  make  himself  known.  We 
are  taking  wonderful  strides  in  this  matter  of 
spirit  intercourse,  and  my  own  experiments 
in  mental  telegraphy  have  proved  to  my 
perfect  satisfaction  and  delight  the  things  that 
I have  always  sensed  with  my  psychic  nature. 
I have  demonstrated  that  the  “ Sweet  By  and 
By  ” is  the  same  kind  of  a myth  as  a heaven 
in  the  clouds  and  a God  in  the  sky.  It  is  all 
arrant  nonsense,  and  we  must  not  allow  our- 
selves to  be  sung  into  the  decrepitude  of  age 
and  the  sleep  of  death.  This  is  something 
that  we  must  not  do  if  we  would  grow  in 
grace,  health,  and  beauty  here.  The  affirma- 
tions have  been  plainly  stated.  When  per- 
fectly understood  and  practised  there  is  no 
need  of  denials,  but  until  that  joyful  time  we 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


103 

are  compelled  to  use  the  “ Thou  shalt  not  ” 
dictum  very  often. 

If  the  persons  who  call  themselves  old  and 
growing  old  will  for  the  sake  of  the  lesson 
stop  a moment  to  reflect  upon  the  tears  they 
have  wasted,  the  groans  they  have  uttered 
which  only  made  them  more  miserable  and 
everybody  in  their  atmosphere  wretched;  if 
they  will  recall  the  hard  and  bitter  thoughts 
they  have  cherished  toward  those  perhaps 
whom  they  most  loved,  they  will  be  able  to 
form  some  conception  of  the  reason  of  their 
failing  powers  and  their  altered  appearance. 
In  order  to  call  a halt  on  approaching  age,  all 
of  these  things  must  be  put  out  of  mind. 
Don’t  make  a mistake  here.  The  habits  of 
years  cannot  be  broken  in  a week,  but  remem- 
ber this — it  will  give  you  beautiful  faith  and 
strength  all  along  the  line — if  you  commence 
this  work  in  earnest  you  will  be  constantly 
helped  and  cheered.  This  assistance  will 
be  so  marked  that  it  will  sometimes  seem 
almost  supernatural.  But  there  is  nothing 
supernatural.  There  can  be  nothing  above 
Tie  natural.  You  have  simply  stepped  into 


104 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


harmony  with  the  law,  and  that  step  has 
brought  you  into  relations  with  everything 
strong  and  harmonious  in  the  universe.  You 
are  in  the  ranks  of  God’s  soldiers,  and 
strength  will  be  given  you  to  march  right 
along.  The  old  headache  or  the  old  heart- 
ache may  occasionally  clutch  you,  and  the  old 
life  with  its  emotions  and  its  sentimental  and 
sensational  charms  may  sometimes  beckon 
you,  but  they  are  all  powerless  to  detain  you, 
and  every  hour  lessens  their  hold,  or  rather 
your  hold  upon  them.  It  is  we  who  do  the 
enticing  and  the  clutching.  We  invite  all  our 
foes  and  entertain  them  afterward,  and  then 
we  talk  glibly  about  this  or  that  trouble  and 
misfortune  sending  us  to  our  graves.  Such  is 
the  stuff  that  the  so-called  tragedies  of  life  are 
made  of. 

In  the  treatment  of  old  age  there  is  a great 
deal  to  do,  and  a great  deal  that  we  must  not 
only  not  do,  but  we  must  cease  to  think  about. 
We  must  cease  to  depend  upon  other  persons 
for  help  and  uplift.  We  must  learn  to  evolve 
all  these  things  from  ourselves — not  an  easy 
task  for  those  who  have  been  “ waited  upon 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  10$ 

hand  and  foot,”  as  a woman  who  had  com- 
menced to  rebel  against  her  years  and  infirmi- 
ties once  expressed  it. 

“Why,  I haven’t  buttoned  my  boots  in  five 
years,”  she  said,  “nor  have  I been  in  the 
street  alone  for  that  length  of  time.  Why, 
my  daughter  wouldn’t  permit  it.” 

“What  has  your  daughter  to  do  with  it?” 
I asked. 

“ She  thinks  it  would  be  unsafe,  and  she  is 
always  expecting  that  I am  going  to  fall  or 
tumble  downstairs.” 

“ Did  you  ever  fall  downstairs  ? ” 

“No,  I have  never  had  a serious  accident  in 
my  life,  but  you  see  my  child  loves  me 
so,  and  if  anything  were  to  happen  to  me 
she  would  be  inconsolable.  I am  all  she  has 
got." 

How  many  of  the  world’s  inhabitants  are 
just  in  this  position ! They  are  all  somebody 
has  got,  and  somebody  is  all  they  have  got. 
The  fear  of  death,  as  St.  Paul  says,  keeps 
them  all  their  lives  subject  to  bondage.  For 
this  reason  the  daughter  dogs  her  mother’s 
every  step,  making  her  a chronic  invalid,  and 


106  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

literally  pushing  her  into  old  age  and  the 
grave. 

If  the  daughters  do  not  desire  to  grow  old 
— and  they  do  not — they  must  call  a halt  upon 
such  practices,  and  the  mothers  must  com- 
mence to  wait  upon  themselves. 

“ Why  do  you  not  button  your  own  boots?  ” 
I asked  the  dearly  loved  and  much  watched 
woman.  “You  certainly  have  the  use  of  your 
hands.” 

“Oh,  yes;  but  leaning  over  might  bring  on 
vertigo.  You  see  I am  very  fleshy,  and  my 
stomach  is  so  in  the  way.” 

She  meant  her  abdomen,  and  she  told  the 
truth.  It  was  large  and  very  much  in  the 
way,  but  not  more  so  than  those  of  scores  of 
women  whom  we  daily  meet  on  the  street. 
And  what  had  caused  this  deformed  condition, 
for  it  was  nothing  else? 

Intemperance  in  eating  and  lack  of  exer- 
cise, and  the  settling  down  to  the  belief  that 
whatever  little  jurisdiction  she  once  had  over 
her  own  life  was  now  at  an  end.  In  other 
words,  she  “lived,  moved,  and  had  her  being” 
in  her  daughter,  and  the  daughter  in  her. 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


10? 

For  ages  such  willing  service  and  loving 
dependence  has  been  considered  most  beauti- 
ful; but  let  us  analyze  it  for  a moment.  Fear 
and  selfishness  were  the  prime  factors  in  this 
case  as  in  almost  every  other,  and  the  des- 
truction of  individuality  followed  as  a matter 
of  course.  There  wasn’t  a sound  spiritual 
fibre  in  either  mother  or  child.  They  were 
pulp. 

“But  what  can  I do?”  the  mother  asked 
tearfully.  “ I knew  that  I have  no  business  to 
depend  so  much,  and  I knew  that  my  daugh- 
ter has  other  uses  for  her  strength  and  time. 
But  I suppose  she  feels  that  she  can  only  have 
me  a short  time  at  the  longest,  and  she  wants 
to  hold  me  in  the  body  just  as  long  as  she  can.” 

“Why  don’t  you  hold  yourself  in  the 
body?”  I inquired. 

“ I— hold— myself?” 

This  seemed  a new  idea,  although  I had 
previously  spent  some  time  explaining  the 
same  matter. 

“ Why  should  your  child  have  more  power 
in  this  direction  than  you  have?  It  is  your 
body,  is  it  not?  ” 


to8  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

“I  used  to  think  it  was  God’s  body,”  she 
replied. 

“Well,  it  isn’t  now.  It’s  nobody’s  body. 
You  have  shut  your  God  up  in  a closet, 
and  you  and  your  daughter  are  trying  to 
run  the  business  between  you,  but  you  can’t 
do  it.” 

“ But  what  shall  I do?  ” 

“ Put  your  daughter  out  of  the  partnership 
and  take  God  in.” 

“ But  you  don’t  know  my  child.  She  would 
be  broken-hearted.” 

“I’ll  risk  the  breakage.  In  a little  while 
she  will  be  very  much  relieved.  It  wouldn’t 
be  in  nature  for  her  not  to  be.  What  do  you 
think  her  sensations  will  be  when  she  sees 
you  a live,  wide-awake,  busy  woman,  able  to 
help  yourself,  and  by  the  force  of  your  exam- 
ple to  help  others  to  freedom  ? ” 

“ But  what  shall  I do  first?  ” 

“ Well,  I would  button  my  boots  if  I burst 
something.” 

“ But  suppose  Alice  refuses  to  let  me?  ” 

“ Throw  a boot  at  her  and  knock  her  down. 
Take  a slipper  to  her;  do  anything.  Prove  to 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


IO9 


her  that  you  have  opened  the  door  of  the 
closet  and  let  your  God  out.” 

There  was  a hearty  laugh  at  this  advice, 
and  I felt  sure  that  the  battle  would  soon 
begin. 

“ But  after  all  is  said  and  done,  it  is  a very 
small  thing  to  button  one’s  shoes.” 

Here  was  an  immediate  and  eager  reaching 
out  for  a larger  opportunity,  as  there  always 
is  when  the  truth  has  worked  its  way  into  the 
inmost  parts. 

“ That  will  be  a beautiful  beginning ; and  it 
will  not  be  long  before  you  will  find  yourself 
taking  some  vigorous  daily  exercise  without  a 
guardian  or  chaperone.” 

“ But  do  you  quite  realize  that  I am  what 
the  world  calls  an  old  woman — past  seventy, 
you  know,  when  the  years  are  counted.” 

“ A hundred  years  is  as  one  day  with  God, 
and  time  is  not  to  be  divided  into  periods  of 
growth  and  decadence.  Now  the  question  is, 
Do  you  really  want  to  stop  your  dying,  or 
would  you  prefer  to  go  on  with  it?  You  can 
do  either.  Trust  in  your  daughter  is  simply 
launching  you  into  feebleness,  senility,  and 


IIO  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

death.  If  you  like  that  kind  of  travel,  the 
road  is  open  to  you.” 

“Great  heavens,  I don’t  like  it!  I never 
liked  it,  but  I thought  it  had  to  be.  I’ll  turn 
about  and  take  the  other  way,  and  do  the  very 
best  I can.” 

This  was  dose  enough  for  one  day.  The 
matter  of  fastening  her  own  shoes  was  a very 
simple  one  considered  by  itself,  but  I knew 
that,  having  performed  this  operation,  she 
would  immediately  cast  about  for  something 
else  to  do  in  the  same  line  of  personal  help- 
fulness. And  I was  not  disappointed — no, 
not  even  in  the  shrinkage  of  the  abdomen. 
An  intelligent  thought  of  her  own  God-given 
right  to  symmetry,  ease,  and  beauty,  com- 
bined with  common  sense,  which  is  God  also-, 
in  reference  to  proper  food  and  exercise, 
wrought  a marvellous  change  which  no  one 
could  understand  save  those  who  were  in  the 
secret. 


CHAPTER  X. 


“supplementary  proceedings.” 

Solomon  with  all  his  pretensions  to  knowl- 
edge never  said  a wiser  thing  than  did  a 
friend  who,  after  listening  to  a very  marvel- 
lous account  of  certain  electrical  apparatuses, 
remarked  as  follows: 

“ There  never  was  a story  told  yet  too  big 
for  me  to  believe.” 

According  to  the  opinion  of  her  companions 
on  this  occasion  she  was,  if  not  a fool,  at  least 
a most  gullible  creature.  But  the  machine 
got  to  working,  and  the  doubting  Thomases 
marched  along  in  a row  to  see  it. 

We  are  living  in  a wonderful  age.  Things 
are  coming  into  climaxes  mighty  fast.  Here 
and  there,  all  over  the  world,  men  and  women 
are  speaking  the  word  of  health,  opulence, 
and  continued  life  on  this  planet.  This  word 
is  the  vital  leaven  which  is  leavening  the 
whole  lump.  The  raising  of  humanity  may 


I 12  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

seem  very  slow  and  sporadic  to  the  impatient 
ones,  and  those  without  faith,  but  they  are 
quite  mistaken.  The  God  within  and  the  God 
without  are  felt  and  understood  as  never  was 
God  felt  and  understood  before.  Even  the 
most  apathetic  and  pessimistic  persons  occa- 
sionally rouse  up  long  enough  to  wonder  what 
it  is  that  makes  these  days  so  different  from  all 
the  other  days  they  have  known.  It  is  like  a 
rush  of  mighty  waters,  and  more  people  than 
we  imagine  hear  the  sound  thereof. 

Viewed  from  some  aspects  the  whole  world 
seems  very  weak  and  wicked.  We  have  our 
multi-millionaires  and  our  gigantic  trusts 
and  corporations  that  appear  to  be  sweeping 
everything  but  themselves  and  their  especial 
interests  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  God 
reigns,  and  they  cannot  do  it. 

In  contradistinction  to  this  appearance  we 
have  the  poverty-stricken,  the  lame,  the  halt, 
the  blind,  the  beggar  in  his  rags.  These  peo- 
ple are  as  numerous  as  ever,  but  we  discern 
that  something  has  happened  even  to  them. 
The  leaven  is  surely  working.  Some  whisper 
has  vibrated  way  down  the  line  that  poverty 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


is  not  a God-sent  condition,  and  that  there  are 
better  ways  of  materializing  wealth  than  by 
the  crowding  out  and  trampling  down  of 
others.  Somebody  has  said  something  about 
“ the  substance  of  God  ” and  the  table  that  is 
spread  with  this  substance — a table  from 
which  no  one  is  excluded. 

“What  are  you  doing  now  for  a living?”  a 
man  was  asked  who  had  been  compelled  to 
give  up  his  small  store  on  account  of  a new 
neighbor  who  sold  everything,  and  much 
cheaper  than  he  could  afford  to  do. 

“ I have  gone  into  partnership  with  Al- 
mighty God,”  was  the  answer,  “and  it  pays.” 

The  questioner  did  not  in  the  least  under- 
stand what  this  meant,  but  he  had  reason  to 
believe  afterward  that  some  unusual  force 
had  been  at  work  in  this  man’s  behalf. 

In  the  recovery  from  old  age  it  is  necessary 
that  we  constantly  recognize  this  partnership, 
or  more,  strictly  speaking,  this  oneness  with 
the  All-Good.  Then,  and  only  then,  are  we 
individuals.  It  is  impossible  to  feel  too  inde- 
pendent or  self-sufficient. 

“ Through  the  God-power  vested  in  me  I 


1 14  THE  prevention  and 

am  equal  to  anything  that  I choose  to  do,”  is 
a statement  which  we  cannot  make  too  often 
in  our  attempts  to  overcome. 

These  affirmations  will  tend  to  keep  us  up 
to  the  mark  of  the  high  calling,  but  they  must 
be  supplemented  by  earnest  and  untiring  ef- 
fort. 

“ What  kind  of  effort?  ” 

Physical  effort. 

You  may  say  all  these  beautiful  things,  but 
if  you  don’t  do  something  you  will  die. 

“Faith  without  works  is  dead,”  our  eldqr 
brother  told  his  followers,  and  this  is  as  true 
to-day  as  when  these  words  were  uttered  cen- 
turies ago. 

Suppose,  for  instance,  that  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  race  thought  of  age,  and  your 
consequent  inability  to  do  anything  for  your- 
self, you  have  become  bent  in  figure  and  stiff 
in  your  joints.  You  rise  with  difficulty  and 
walk  with  pain.  Now,  do  not  believe  that 
you  can  dispel  these  evidences  of  old  age  by 
any  process  of  affirmation  or  denial.  No, 
indeed.  You  have  got  to  get  up  and  keep 
getting  up  until  you  have  taught  these  joints 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


1 15 

and  limbs  their  proper  lesson.  To  be  de- 
livered from  the  stoop  which  you  yourself 
have  fastened  upon  yourself,  you  must  not 
only  direct  your  mental  forces  that  way,  but 
you  must  take  the  physical  exercises  that  will 
tend  to  change  that  condition.  You  could 
sit  in  your  chair  and  declare  your  dominion 
over  these  states  with  all  the  power  and 
eloquence  of  which  you  were  capable,  and 
the  stoop  and  the  weakness  would  still  be  in 
evidence. 

“For  mercy’s  sake  let  me  alone,”  said  an 
“ elderly  ” man  who  had  become  somewhat  in- 
terested in  the  new  thought,  but  who  had 
made  very  little  headway  because  faith  and 
works  were  strangers;  in  other  words,  be- 
cause he  had  become  possessed  by  the  idea 
that  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  sit  on  the  veranda 
and  declare  his  freedom. 

“ Let  me  alone,  ” he  went  on  impatiently.  “ I 
need  no  exercise.  I can  trust  my  God  to  do 
all  this  work  for  me,”  and  he  went  on  trusting 
something  that  he  called  God.  It  wasn’t  God. 
It  was  pure  and  unadulterated  laziness. 

This  man’s  wife  took  a different  view  of 


Il6  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

things.  She  realized  at  once  that  there  was 
something  for  her  to  do  as  well  as  to  say.  In 
order  to  make  the  word  effectual  she  must  do 
the  deeds.  This  woman,  who  had  by  wrong 
thinking  drifted  into  the  state  of  infirmity 
called  old  age,  had  a world  of  work  to  do  in 
order  practically  to  demonstrate  that  she  was 
on  the  up-grade , and  this  knowledge  kept  her 
alert  in  every  fibre  of  her  being. 

One  day  her  husband,  who  had  been  dis- 
cussing metaphysics  with  a neighbor,  turned 
to  her  and  said:  “Why  don’t  you  say  some- 
thing, mother?  ” 

“I’ve  been  saying  something  for  seventy 
years,”  she  replied,  “and  now  I’m  doing 
something.  ” 

After  this  she  took  a three-mile  walk,  and 
came  back  to  her  dinner  hungry  and  rosy, 
and  with  a light  in  her  eyes  that  shed  a radi- 
ance upon  everything  about  her.  Her  hus- 
band sat  in  his  arm-chair,  and  divided  his 
time  between  evolution,  re-incarnation,  arid 
the  power  of  the  individual  ego.  He  hobbled 
into  the  dining-room  and  ate  voraciously  of 
everything  on  the  table,  affirming  that  the 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


II 7 


person  who  refused  to  indulge  his  appetite  to 
the  utmost  was  not  a good  scientist. 

Well,  one  day  he  fell  in  a heap  after  one  of 
these  hearty  meals.  Medical  verdict,  “ Heart 
failure  after  a severe  attack  of  indigestion.” 

The  minister  who  attended  the  funeral 
probably  told  the  surviving  friends  that  “ man 
was  of  a few  days  and  full  of  trouble,”  and 
that  “ God  had  taken  this  useful  citizen,  this 
dear  husband  and  father,  to  himself.” 

What  could  be  more  false  or  more  ridicu- 
lous? This  work  of  undoing  was  entirely 
performed  by  the  man  himself.  He  profaned 
“the  Temple  of  the  Living  God,”  and  kept  on 
profaning  it  after  having  declared  himself  a 
Christian  metaphysician. 

I am  not  acquainted  with  any  man  who  calls 
himself  a scientist  who  has  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing spirituous  liquors,  but  I do  know  many 
professed  scientists,  both  men  and  women, 
who  eat  intemperately.  They  tell  you  that 
God  has  provided  all  the  materials,  and  that 
they  have  a perfect  right  to  everything  that  is 
to  be  found  in  their  Father’s  kingdom.  Here 
again : “ Man  has  sought  out  many  inventions,” 


1 18  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

and  while  God  has  provided  the  original  sub- 
stance, it  does  seem  as  if  the  devil  had 
been  employed  to  make  some  of  the  com- 
binations; for  between  the  grease  and  the 
gravies,  the  mix-ups  of  different  portions  of 
the  flesh  of  animals,  the  sickening  concoctions 
for  which  even  the  French  chefs  are  puzzled 
to  find  names,  the  lovers  of  simple  food  find 
themselves  badly  handicapped  when  away 
from  their  own  tables.  These  things  are  all 
good  in  themselves  and  where  they  belong, 
but  they  are  not  good  for  us  when  stirred  up 
together,  except  as  the  working  out  of  a nat- 
ural law  is  good  by  reason  of  the  experience 
that  we  derive  from  it.  The  effects  of  intem- 
perance in  eating  are  as  marked  as  the  effects 
of  intemperance  in  drink,  and  quite  as  demor- 
alizing. After  a careful  and  unprejudiced  ob- 
servation I firmly  believe  that  if  the  race  had 
been  intelligent  in  the  matter  of  food,  we 
should  have  giants  and  double  centenarians 
walking  our  streets  to-day.  They  might  have 
beaten  Noah  and  Methusaleh  in  the  matter  of 
longevity.  From  Noah  to  David  was  a steady 
decline.  Considerable  of  a tumble  from 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


I I9 


nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  and  nine  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  three-score  years  and  ten, 
with  forty  years  as  the  average  number. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  this  fall- 
ing-off was  occasioned  by  the  encroachments 
of  what  most  people  call  civilization.  Trouble 
commenced  as  soon  as  this  era  of  simplicity 
was  invaded  by  the  complex.  The  first  stew 
may  have  been  responsible  for  the  first  stom- 
ach-ache and  the  anxiety  that  naturally  fol- 
lowed such  an  unprecedented  condition.  One 
thing  is  sure,  there  has  been  plenty  of  stew- 
ing ever  since,  both  in  the  pot  and  in  the 
feelings  of  men.  Aches  and  pains  and  griefs 
and  fears  have  predominated.  The  healthy 
person  has  been  the  exception  for  more  years 
than  we  know  how  to  count,  and  to-day  the 
man  or  woman  who  lives  to  be  one  hundred 
years  old  is  counted  a curiosity.  He  may  be 
stone  deaf,  or  blind  as  a bat,  and  too  feeble  to 
get  up  and  down  without  help,  but  he  has  ex- 
ceeded the  record,  broken  the  law  of  three- 
score and  ten,  and  people  will  travel  miles  to 
congratulate  him.  But  this  isn’t  life.  He  is 
of  no  use.  He  has  no  enjoyment.  Nobody 


120 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


wants  him,  and  when  the  flickering  breath  at 
last  stops,  it  is  recognized  as  a good  thing  for 
all  concerned. 

O friends,  can  you  not  see  what  stupid 
nonsense  all  this  death  and  dying  is?  And 
can  it  be  possible  that  you  are  so  dull  as  not 
to  be  able  to  feel  what  an  important  part  the 
proper  selection,  quality,  and  quantity  of  food 
exert  upon  your  lives  ? 

“ But  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  the 
ninety-first  psalm?  ” some  friend  will  ask. 

“ I am  going  to  love  and  cherish  it,  to  read 
and  reread  it,  and,  better  than  all,  to  be- 
lieve it. 

“ ‘ He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of 
the  Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Almighty.  ’ ” 

Where  is  the  man  that  so  dwelleth?  He 
certainly  cannot  be  the  man  who  is  all  the 
time  thinking  of  his  dinner  and  suffering 
from  the  effects  of  it.  “ The  secret  place  of 
the  Most  High  ” must  be  a place  of  ease  and 
comfort,  of  absolute  faith  and  trust.  No  per- 
son can  either  trust  or  repose  who  is  domi- 
nated by  his  appetite,  who  eats  indigestible 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


12  I 


food  or  too  much  food.  To  be  in  this  secret 
place  is  to  be  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  No 
pestilence  can  come  nigh  such  a dwelling. 
Everything  conspires  for  peace,  because  dis- 
cord cannot  live  in  this  atmosphere. 

Many  people  are  approximating  to  this 
kingdom,  and  there  may  be  a few  who  reside 
there  more  or  less  permanently.  It  is  the  only 
safe  place  and  is  well  worth  striving  for,  but  it 
can  never  be  reached  through  the  gratification 
of  an  appetite,  though  all  food  partaken  of 
should  be  enjoyed.  One  should  never  eat  un- 
less one  is  hungry,  and  to  fill  one’s  stomach 
with  undesirable  stuff  for  the  sake  of  sociability 
is  a sin  and  a shame.  Dinner  parties  with  their 
endless  courses  and  abominable  messes,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  insincerity  and  the  striving  for 
effect  which  generally  obtain,  are  responsible 
for  more  senility  and  decay  than  people  sup- 
pose. Who  can  fail  to  grow  silly,  weak  in 
the  legs,  and  large  in  the  abdomen,  who  is  in 
the  habit  of  spending  three  hours  a day  swal- 
lowing raw  beef,  chopped  flesh,  stuffed  birds, 
calves’  brains,  lambs’  kidneys,  grease  galore, 
pastries,  creams,  and  wines? 


122  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

Such  a performance  once  a month  would 
soon  provide  me  with  a ticket  of  leave.  If 
obliged  to  go  through  such  a menu,  even 
/ would  pipe  my  feeble  lay  to  these  words : 

“ I would  not  live  alway, 

I ask  not  to  stay, 

Where  dish  after  dish 
Comes  sliding  this  way.” 

And  yet  no  one  enjoys  good  things — whole- 
some things — more  than  the  writer,  or  the 
lightness  and  brightness  of  a properly  served 
meal.  But  the  cannibalistic  and  gormandizing 
tendencies  which  to  a degree — not  a very  ex- 
aggerated degree — once  distinguished  me  are 
no  longer  in  evidence. 

Let  us  not  be  deceived,  my  friends,  by  the 
specious  reasoning  of  those  persons  who  are 
seeking  the  higher  life,  but  who  do  their 
preaching  beside  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  To 
enjoy  our  God,  to  make  the  most  of  our  lives 
and  constantly  to  grow  in  grace  and  health, 
youth  and  beauty,  we  must  keep  our  bodies 
clean  and  pure.  Anything  that  pollutes  the 
body  brings  everything  undesirable  in  its 
train — sickness,  sorrow,  old  age,  and  death. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  IGNORANT  WORD. 

Every  man  must  be  a law  unto  himself. 
He  always  is  this,  whether  he  knows  it  or  not. 
The  word  of  the  person  stands,  whether  that 
word  be  spoken  for  health  or  disease,  immor- 
tal youth  or  old  age. 

The  true  word  is  the  word  of  intelligence. 
This  word  speaks  for  health  and  happiness  in 
a thousand  different  ways,  while  the  ignorant 
word  constantly  materializes  in  error. 

I am  perfectly  willing  to  admit  that  the 
truth  of  these  statements  is  an  exceedingly 
difficult  one  to  grasp;  and  why  should  it  not 
be,  when  all  the  ages  have  taught  us  some- 
thing exactly  opposite?  Considering  precept 
and  tradition,  man  has  proved  himself  a pretty 
brave  fellow.  Taught  to  believe  that  the 
scourges  of  sickness  and  death  were  placed 
upon  him  by  God  from  the  very  start,  he  has 
shown  considerable  grit  and  courage  in  man- 


124 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


aging  the  infernal  conditions  as  well  as  he 
has.  In  living — or  rather  staying — and  dying 
in  ignorance,  he  has  proved  himself  worthy  of 
the  brightest  and  most  felicitous  immortality. 
When  one  reflects  upon  the  depths  of  degra- 
dation and  despair  which  a mistaken  concep- 
tion of  God  has  brought  to  God’s  children,  it 
seems  a miracle  that  there  could  have  been 
found  one  single  man  in  the  whole  misunder- 
stood universe  able  even  for  a few  years  to  do 
a stroke  of  work  or  perform  an  act  of  kind- 
ness. But  in  the  face  and  eyes  of  the  cursed 
present  and  the  equally  uncertain  and  cursed 
future  they  have  indeed  performed  heroic 
deeds. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  really  is,  that  if  all 
these  people  had  absolutely  believed  in  hell 
after  death,  and  the  necessity  of  sickness  and 
poverty,  they  would  not  have  tried  to  evade, 
ignore,  and  overcome  them  as  they  certainly 
have.  These  things  have  been  fought  val- 
iantly though  ignorantly,  showing  plainly 
that  deep  down  in  the  heart  of  man  the  voice 
of  a reigning  God  was  steadfastly  sending 
forth  its  protests.  Little  by  little  has  the  race 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


125 


awakened  from  its  hideous  nightmare  dream, 
and  now  at  the  close  of  this  most  remarkable 
century,  the  most  wonderful  in  every  respect 
of  any  that  has  preceded  it,  there  are  to 
be  found  men  and  women  who  know  that  the 
true  reign  of  the  true  God  has  commenced. 

God  is  known  for  what  he  is,  and  not  for  what 

« 

the  ages  have  ignorantly  taught. 

The  ignorant  word  is  not  uttered  so  often 
as  formerly.  In  many  instances  we  find  it 
curiously  changed  and  modified.  It  may  be 
just  as  illogical  as  ever,  but  there  is  an  inter- 
rogation mark  after  it,  or  an  atmosphere  of 
indecision  prevades  it.  Thoughts  are  projec- 
tiles, and  the  God-power  that  is  now  behind 
this  God-thought  is  loading  and  discharging 
with  the  most  accurate  and  beautiful  preci- 
sion. Folks  are  being  hit  in  every  part  of  the 
earth,  and  wondering  what  is  the  matter  with 
them.  They  are  getting  wicked,  they  tell 
their  friends  and  neighbors.  They  do  not  care 
so  much  about  forms  and  ceremonies.  It  is 
hard  work  to  sit  through  an  hour’s  sermon. 
The  old  hymns  have  an  alien  sound,  and  the 
once  eloquent  long  prayer  is  simply  sounding 


126 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


brass  and  tinkling  cymbal.  It  is  all  very 
strange.  They  have  never  had  anything  to 
do  with  these  new-fangled  doctrines.  They 
are  not  acquainted  with  any  scientists.  What 
can  it  mean?  they  ask. 

It  means  that  it  is  in  the  air,  and  there  is 
no  escape  from  it.  It  means  that  the  God  in 
one  man  is  literally  obliged  to  wake  up  the 
God  in  another  man,  and  that  the  telepathic 
signals  of  science  are  being  felt  and  compre- 
hended in  greater  or  less  degree  by  every 
really  intelligent  man  and  woman  on  the 
globe. 

Is  not  this  a grand  and  a comforting  out- 
look? And,  thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us 
the  victory,  it  is  all  true ! 

In  this  wonderful  meantime  how  shall  we 
more  quickly  and  completely  change  the 
ignorant  for  the  intelligent  word?  How  shall 
we  learn  to  call  things  by  their  right  names 
instead  of  the  names  that  we  have  been 
taught  to  call  them?  To  accomplish  this  in- 
volves a complete  change  in  our  lives;  and 
this  is  not  always  or  often  an  easy  process. 

One  very  ignorant  word  that  we  have 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


127 


spoken  for  ourselves  and  others  is  that  of 
ownership.  The  most  awful  thought  that  can 
be  presented  to  most  persons  is  the  true  one, 
that  they  do  not  own  their  children. 

“Unclutch  and  let  go  entirely,”  a wise 
teacher  told  one  of  her  students,  who  had 
been  the  victim  of  intense  anxiety  for  many 
years. 

“Let  go  of  what?  Let  go  of  life?”  the 
woman  asked. 

“ No,  you  can’t  let  go  of  that.  Life  pos- 
sesses you.  In  other  words,  you  are  life — 
not  a good  type  of  intelligent  life  at  present, 
but  getting  there.  I mean  unclutch,  and  let 
go  of  your  children  entirely.” 

“Oh,  I never  thought  that  you  could  say 
that  to  me ! ” was  the  sad,  almost  tragic  re- 
sponse. “ Why,  there  is  no  torture  that  I 
should  not  deserve  if  I shirked  the  responsi- 
bility of  my  children.  I brought  them  into 
the  world;  they  are  surely  mine.” 

“ Nothing  is  yours  but  yourself.  That  is 
all  yours.  You  have  no  right  to  prevent  the 
unfoldment  of  individuality  in  those  children, 
or  rather  in  those  men;  and  this  you  have 


128 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


been  and  are  still  doing.  I am  sure  that 
things  will  speedily  mend  if  you  will  let  them 
go  their  way.” 

“Oh!  but  Jimmy!  Think  of  Jimmy  with- 
out his  mother’s  hand  to  guide  him,  his 
mother’s  heart  to  sympathize  with  him  when 
he  is  in  trouble,”  wailed  the  fond  parent. 

“Jimmy  ” was  the  prodigal  who  never  made 
long  trips  from  home,  but  was  constantly  go- 
ing and  constantly  coming,  and  so  repentant 
when  money  gave  out.  More  fatted  calves 
had  been  killed  and  roasted  for  Jimmy  than 
one  could  count,  and  he  knew  that  he  should 
always  find  his  mother  watching  by  the  win- 
dow, all  ready  to  light  the  fagots  for  the  feast. 
She  had  weakened  and  sickened  and  aged  in 
this  process  of  expectancy,  but  Jimmy  didn’t 
see  it.  Jimmy  was  having  a good  time,  or 
thought  he  was,  in  wasting  his  mother’s  sub- 
stance in  riotous  living;  and  the  foolish  parent 
labored  under  the  mistaken  idea  that  she  was 
guiding  Jimmy. 

How  many  mothers  do  we  see  as  this  mir- 
ror is  held  up  to  view?  Oh,  the  awful  sacri- 
fice of  calves  on  this  altar  of  ownership! 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


129 


Such  ignorance  is  enough  to  make  the  an- 
gels— yea,  and  the  archangels  cry  their  eyes 
out;  and  they  certainly  would  do  so  if  they 
did  not  see  that  these  mothers  and  these 
Jimmies  could  learn  their  lessons  in  no  other 
way. 

This  special  parent  was  slowly  awakening, 
and  had  made  a few  notable  conquests  in 
other  lines,  but  when  Jimmy’s  dethronement 
was  suggested,  the  mother  heart  took  fright 
at  once.  It  was  no  use  to  ask  her  to  let  go  of 
Jimmy.  She  could  agree  to  any  other  sacri- 
fice, but  not  this  one. 

This  is  a fine  example  ot  one  sort  of  clutch- 
ing, and  there  is  not  a reader  who  will  not 
have  some  such  mother  and  child  in  mind. 
Now,  money  was  not  good  for  Jimmy,  and  so 
many  fatted  calves  were  tiresome,  even  to  the 
prodigal,  whose  only  desire  was  to  steady  up 
for  a spell  in  order  to  start  out  again  with  full 
pockets,  in  search  of  that  will-o-the-wisp  hap- 
piness which  always  had  and  ever  would  mock 
and  elude  him. 

To  let  go  of  one’s  children  is  indeed  a very 
new  doctrine,  but  it  is  the  only  thing  that  will 


130 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


bring  peace  to  either  parent  or  child.  For 
ages  it  has  been  considered  the  imperative 
duty  of  parents — especially  of  mothers — to 
sacrifice  themselves  for  their  offspring.  This 
sacrifice  consisted  in  the  renunciation  of 
health,  wealth,  happiness,  good  looks,  and 
everything  that  makes  life  desirable.  The 
mother  who  does  not  worry  about  her  stray- 
ing child  is  heartless ; but  was  there  ever  one 
who  did  not?  and  was  this  worry  ever  known 
to  bring  a single  prodigal  to  repentance? 

True  growth  is  impossible  when  one  sel- 
fishly clutches  anything  — husband,  wife, 
children,  friends,  lovers,  or  money.  Every 
earthly  thing  should  be  held  with  a loose 
grasp,  not  on  the  theory  which  has  so  long 
prevailed  that  an  angry  God  will  remove  all 
our  idols,  but  upon  the  principle  that  as  long 
as  we  are  holding  on  to  one  thing  with  all  our 
might,  we  are  hermetically  sealed  against  the 
reception  of  every  gift  worth  having. 

Motherhood  is  a very  sacred  and  beautiful 
thing,  but  there  is  a marvellous  difference 
between  true  motherhood  and  sentimental 
motherhood.  Jimmy’s  mother  is  a type  of 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


131 

the  foolish  and  selfish  mother,  and  the  family 
is  numerous.  Jesus  is  thought  by  many  to 
have  spoken  very  harshly  to  his  mother, 
when  in  answer  to  her  question  of  where  he 
was  going,  and  why  he  did  not  come  home, 
where  all  young  men  ought  to  be  found,  he 
replied:  “Wist  ye  not  that  I go  about  my 
Father’s  business?  ” 

I always  supposed  that  this  settled  it  for  all 
time  with  Mary.  She  like  other  mothers 
wanted  her  boy  under  her  wing,  but  this  was 
not  his  place,  and  in  those  memorable  words 
he  made  her  understand  the  situation.  This 
response  of  our  elder  brother  would  be  a good 
one  for  parents  to  make  to  their  children. 
Could  they  only  see  plainly  enough  to  say  to 
them : “ I nursed  you  and  brought  you  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood  as  faithfully  as  I knew 
how.  You  have  chosen  your  path,  which  is 
not  my  path.  It  is  not  a good  one,  and  I 
have  warned  you  against  it.  Now  work  out 
your  own  salvation.  / go  about  my  father’s 
business.” 

This  would  be  sensible  as  well  as  highly 
scientific.  Our  calf-fed  prodigals  would  then 


132 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


keep  on  eating  husks,  or  would  earn  food 
more  in  consonance  with  their  appetites. 

The  motherly  endeavor  to  avert  the  effect 
of  a cause  has  made  no  end  of  mischief.  It 
never  was  done  and  never  can  be,  except  by 
the  use  of  influence,  the  payment  of  money, 
or  by  some  covering-up  process.  This  may 
seem  to  work  for  a while,  but  there  is  not  one 
case  in  a thousand  that  was  ever  radically 
helped  by  such  means. 

“If  you  write  another  book  on  progressive 
lines,  do  take  up  the  parent  and  child  ques- 
tion,” a friend  has  written.  “Is  there  any 
way  to  make  mothers  more  sensible?  Fath- 
ers, it  seems  to  me,  are  either  too  strict  and 
cruel  or  too  indifferent.  Many  of  them  do  not 
seem  to  care  in  the  least  what  becomes  of  their 
sons;  and  so  the  whole  awful  responsibility 
devolves  upon  the  mothers.  I have  so  many 
sweet  and  noble  friends  who  are  weighed 
down  to  the  very  earth  by  disobedient  and 
dissipated  children,  that  I find  myself  con- 
stantly casting  about  for  some  one  to  say  the 
sensible  lifting  word,  /know  that  they  should 
be  allowed  to  go  their  own  way,  that  every 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


133 


sentimental  prop  should  be  withdrawn,  and  I 
also  know  that  they  are  all  forging  along  by  the 
hardest  road  toward  their  own  true  estates. 
But  you  cannot  make  the  average  suffering 
mother  believe  this.  You  know  it  is  true,  do 
you  not?  ” 

Yes,  indeed,  I know  it,  and  I wish  I could 
stamp  upon  these  pages  some  thought  in 
this  regard  so  helpful  and  comforting  that  it 
would  lift  every  sorrowing  mother  out  of  the 
vale  of  tears  into  the  bright  sunlight  of  faith 
and  joy. 

There  is  one  supreme  debt  that  these  wo- 
men owe  to  themselves  and  afterward  to  hu- 
manity. It  is  to  live  instead  of  die,  to  recu-  . 
perate  instead  of  disintegrate;  and  this  can 
never  be  accomplished  when  they  are  mind- 
ing other  people’s  business,  even  though 
these  other  people  are  what  they  are  pleased 
to  call  “ bone  of  their  bone  and  flesh  of  their 
flesh,”  their  “very  own  children.”  Respon- 
sibility ends,  or  should  end,  when  these  chil- 
dren mark  out  their  own  way  and  elect  to 
follow  it.  This  road  may  apparently  lead  to 
Tophet,  but  it  doesn’t.  It  is  Tophet  all  the 


134 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


way  along,  to  be  sure,  and  there  is  always  a 
fetching-up  place,  which  is  a merciful  place 
after  all,  because  the  lesson  that  could  not  be 
learned  in  any  other  way  is  doubtless  learned 
there.  Effect  has  followed  cause,  and  the 
grand  summing-up  is  inevitable : 

“ Loose  him  and  let  him  go.  Ephraim  is 
joined  to  his  idols.  Let  him  alone.” 

It  is  impossible  to  reach  these  foolish  ones 
by  words  of  warning,  or  of  advice  however 
unselfish  and  well  intentioned,  and  anxious 
thought  is  worse  than  meddling  words.  But 
many  a wanderer  has  been  brought  home  to 
stay  by  means  of  the  free  and  loving  thought. 
One  case  where  every  influence  had  failed  was 
touched  and  reclaimed  by  the  total  renunci- 
ation of  responsibility  by  both  father  and 
mother,  and  the  steadfast  holding  of  this 
thought:  “You  are  free  to  choose  your  own 
way.  Our  desire  is  for  your  highest  good, 
and  that  good  we  believe  you  are  evolving. 
You  are  your  own  master,  and  we  are  simply 
your  loving  friends.” 

One  never-to-be-forgotten  day  this  son 
walked  in  and  said  to  his  mother : “ Do  you 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


135 


know  I have  felt  very  queer  lately?  It  has 
seemed  to  me  just  as  if  you  and  father  had 
unriveted  a link  in  a very  strong  chain  and 
set  me  free.” 

“That  is  precisely  what  we  have  done,”  his 
mother  replied. 

“ Do  you  mean  that  you  have  left  me  free  to 
get  drunk?  ” was  the  next  question. 

“Yes,  free  to  get  drunk  or  to  do  anything 
else  you  may  feel  like  doing.” 

“ And  father  too.  Does  he  feel  the  same 
way?  ” 

“ And  father  too.” 

“ Do  you  know,  mother,  that  I don’t  believe 
I could  drink  another  drop  to  save  my  life?  I 
know  I never  shall.” 

“ But  why  ? ” 

“ Ask  somebody  who  knows  more  than  I 
do;  but  I somehow  feel  like  a man." 

There  are  other  instances  as  marked  as  this, 
showing  not  only  the  power  of  thought  to 
touch  the  spot,  but  the  wonderful  desire  and 
longing  of  every  human  soul  for  liberty. 

How  many  dear  ones  have  been  held  in 
bondage  by  persistent  nagging  and  anxious 


136  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

thought  we  do  not  know,  but  their  number  is 
legion. 

“ Loose  them  and  let  them  go.”  To  do  this 
we  first  loose  ourselves.  The  rest  is  easy. 

This  subject  has  been  taken  up  in  consider- 
able detail  because  of  the  ravages  which  have 
been  wrought  upon  the  mothers  of  the  world 
by  a mistaken  idea  of  their  responsibility. 

There  is  no  prevention  and  no  cure  for  old 
age  while  such  conditions  obtain. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


DUTY. 

Duty,  as  generally  understood,  is  an  abom- 
inable word,  and  wields  an  abominable  influ- 
ence. Look  at  it  as  it  stands  before  you. 
What  character  is  there  in  these  four 
letters — Duty  ? 

“ Du  ” — signifying  do — at  least  that  is  my 
interpretation  of  it — “ ty  ” ty — duty. 

Do,  do,  do,  and  keep  on  doing  for  every- 
body but  yourself.  You  are  not  concerned  in 
it.  It  is  simply  your  business  to  do  whether 
you  like  it  or  not,  or  whether  you  are  able  to 
do  it  or  not.  Duty-doing  in  the  common  ac- 
ceptation of  that  term  is  body-dying.  Flat, 
feeble,  and  sentimental  though  the  word  is,  it 
holds  more  suicide  than  almost  any  other 
word  in  the  language.  It  has  brought  de- 
crepitude and  old  age  to  those  who  were 
young  in  years,  and  has  ruined  countless 
lives. 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


138 

The  most  of  what  goes  as  duty  is  a mis- 
taken sense  of  responsibility.  We  constitute 
ourselves  our  brother’s  keepers,  and  it  is 
always  proved,  when  too  late  to  be  of  any 
service,  that  the  majority  of  these  brothers 
would  have  been  a great  deal  better  off  if 
left  to  themselves. 

“ Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  others 
do  unto  you.” 

Think  of  it  a moment ! Can  we  not  all  say 
with  perfect  truth  that  the  principal  desire  of 
our  lives  is  now,  and  always  has  been,  to  be 
let  alone?  Have  we  relished  interference? 
Have  we  enjoyed  being  told  when  to  get  up 
and  when  to  sit  down,  when  to  go  out  and 
when  to  come  in,  what  to  eat  and  what  not  to 
eat,  what  companions  to  choose  and  what  per- 
sons to  avoid?  Have  you  amiably  accepted 
this  advice  from  your  friends,  your  husbands, 
your  wives,  your  sisters  and  brothers,  your 
children?  And  how  about  you  parents — you 
who  are  holding  on  to  your  “ own  flesh  and 
blood  ” with  the  clutch  of  desperation  ? 

You  know  you  in  your  turn  have  chafed  under 
it,  rebelled  with  all  your  soul  against  it,  many, 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  1 39 

many  times,  and  most  of  you  will  recall  that 
you  have  done  a thousand  things  that  you 
would  never  have  thought  of  doing  if  you  had 
not  been  sure  of  opposition  from  some  quarter. 

Now,  there  is  nobody  on  earth  who  likes 
such  interference  any  more  than  you  do. 
We  find  many  simpletons  who  are  forever 
asking  advice  and  never  taking  it;  but  they 
don’t  count.  They  fly  hither  and  yon,  and 
finally — it  may  take  a long  time — come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  oracle  is  within  them- 
selves. 

How  many  times  have  we  heard  these  tried 
ones  exclaim,  and  how  many  times  have  we 
spoken  the  very  same  words,  “Oh,  if  I only 
knew  my  duty  in  this  matter!”  No  strain  is 
oftener  heard  than  this  one,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  it  is  sometimes  exceedingly 
difficult  to  know  how  and  just  where  to  draw 
the  line.  That  a few  persons  are  very  selfish, 
apparently  utterly  destitute  of  the  milk  of 
human  kindness,  goes  without  saying,  but 
they  are  not  in  evidence  very  often  after  all. 
The  majority  of  the  people  we  meet  are  con- 
stantly on  the  lookout  for  opportunities  to  be 


140 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


kind,  hunting  jobs  of  misery  as  it  were.  It  is 
a remarkable  thing  to  note  how  fast  these 
chronic  sympathizers  grow  old.  They  take 
Mrs.  Smith’s  typhoid  to  bed  with  them,  and 
rise  in  the  morning  quite  proud  to  say  that 
they  haven’t  slept  a wink  all  night. 

Oh,  yes,  there  is  a great  deal  of  pride  that 
inheres  in  this  sort  of  care  for  others,  so  you 
need  not  shake  your  heads.  We  have  not 
been  wholly  free  from  it. 

This  misunderstanding  of  the  “ Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you  ” 
command  is  a fertile  wrinkle-producer.  It 
just  ploughs  lines  into  “the  human  face 
divine.”  And  why  does  it  do  this? 

First,  because  of  a peculiar  poison  which 
this  mental  condition  produces  in  the  body; 
and  next,  because  of  the  habit  of  drawing  and 
contorting  the  countenance  into  sympathetic  or 
agonized  expression.  So  you  see  there  is  an 
outside  as  well  as  an  inside  to  attend  to.  Some 
so-called  scientists  stoutly  deny  this  proposi- 
tion . They  may  be  very  particular  about  the  fit 
of  their  gowns,  and  their  hats  may  be  adorned 
with  the  finest  imitation  of  the  floral  kingdom, 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


141 

but  the  face — oh,  that  is  a different  matter. 
The  face  must  be  let  entirely  alone.  It  is  not 
scientific  to  soften  the  skin,  although  it  may 
be  as  dried  up  and  as  weatherbeaten  as  an 
old  barn-door.  I have  always  taken  an  en- 
tirely opposite  view.  Whatever  will  help  one 
more  perfectly  to  express  the  wholesomeness 
and  the  beauty  which  all  desire  to  show  forth 
is  as  proper  and  legitimate  a thing  to  use  as 
is  water  for  the  cleansing  of  our  bodies. 

“Oh,  I wonder  if  she  believes  in  rouge!" 
some  of  our  readers  will  exclaim. 

That  is  a question  to  be  left  to  individual 
taste  and  good  sense.  I do  not  think  that 
either  rouge  or  powder  is  necessary  to  any 
skin.  If  I did,  I should  certainly  use  it,  and 
ask  no  one’s  consent  to  do  so.  To  my  mind 
both  of  these  materials  are  harmful.  They 
clog  the  pores  and  produce  roughness  and  un- 
sightly eruptions.  But  there  are  most  grate- 
ful and  wholesome  emollients,  which  help  to 
keep  the  cuticle  fresh  and  to  soften  the  hard 
lines  which  sickness,  trouble,  and  the  mind- 
ing of  other  people’s  business  have  produced. 

There  is  no  more  imperative  duty  in  this 


142 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


period  of  the  world’s  history  than  for  women 
to  look  their  very  best,  and  it  is  their  business 
to  employ  any  truly  healthful  process  to  facili- 
tate that  most  desirable  end. 

It  is  true  that  if  we  had  been  living  in  con- 
scious unity  with  the  divine  we  should  need 
no  external  aids.  Also  that  if  we  are  now 
living  in  such  harmonious  relations  we  shall 
presently  be  free  from  blemishes.  But  there 
is  a big  gap  to  fill  up,  a great  chasm  be- 
tween the  days  of  our  ignorance  and  the 
dawn  of  our  intelligence,  between  the  days 
when  we  scattered  the  seeds  of  wrinkles  and 
weakness  and  old  age  and  that  beautiful  morn- 
ing when  we  awoke  to  the  knowledge  that 
there  was  not  the  slightest  need  of  any  of 
these  things.  But  error  seed  brought  forth 
an  error  harvest.  As  you  look  at  yourselves 
you  see  nothing  but  the  evidences  of  de- 
vastation. What  shall  you  do? — leave  it  so,  or 
endeavor  to  supplement  the  inner  processes  by 
whatever  sweet  and  gracious  means  that  your 
newly  awakened  consciousness  may  suggest? 

There  is  but  one  sensible  answer  to  this 
question.  Do  what  you  call  your  duty  by 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


143 


yourselves,  and  endeavor  to  appear  to  others 
as  young,  as  pretty,  as  sweet  and  attractive  as 
possible. 

It  is  not  true  that,  because  you  have  com- 
menced to  think  good  and  logical  thoughts 
and  practise  upon  mental  science  lines,  you 
can  immediately  put  to  rout  every  nega- 
tive condition.  When  you  are  told  that  you 
or  anybody  else  can  drink  any  deadly  draught 
without  harm,  don’t  run  to  the  drug  store  for 
poison  in  order  to  try  the  experiment ; and  if 
you  contemplate  treading  on  adders,  keep  on 
your  shoes  and  stockings.  Right  there  is 
where  the  mind  comes  in,  though  some  radi- 
cal scientists  will  not  admit  it.  That  such 
harmony  is  our  potential  possession  I have  no 
doubt,  but  the  adders  of  our  own  nature  are 
the  enemies  we  need  to  tread  on.  When  we 
encounter  the  snakes  of  jealousy,  envy,  and 
untruth  in  others  and  do  not  feel  a sting  or  a 
pang,  we  can  begin  to  think  about  going  out 
into  the  byways  and  highways  to  hunt  for 
other  adders  to  step  on.  But  we  really  shall 
not  need  to  do  this  in  order  to  get  a diploma 
in  the  overcoming  class. 


144 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


The  mind  that  is  engaged  in  the  work  of 
renewing  will  open  itself  to  light  from  every 

i 

quarter.  It  will  desire  wisdom  beyond  every 
other  possession,  and  wisdom  will  surely  and 
steadily  flow  in.  The  willing  soul  desirous  of 
truth  has  only  to  keep  still  and  listen.  It 
need  not  discuss  metaphysics  or  rush  to  the 
rescue  of  maligned  metaphysicians.  It  real- 
izes first  of  all  that  it  has  its  own  work  to  do, 
and  that  this  work  is  of  such  mighty  import 
that  there  is  no  time  to  spare  in  the  officious 
business  of  solving  the  problems  of  other 
people. 

Duty  does  not  stand  for  kindness  or  affec- 
tion. Remember  that.  The  very  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  word  suggests  something  hard  and 
disagreeable.  “It  is  my  duty  to  take  care  of 
this  or  that  relative,”  says  some  one.  “He 
has  no  one  else  to  help  him.  What  will  you 
do  with  that  horn  of  the  dilemma?  ” 

It  is  impossible  to  answer  such  a question 
because  one  has  no  knowledge  of  the  especial 
circumstances.  It  might  be  the  worst  thing 
that  could  befall  this  man  to  be  cared  for  in 
this  way.  It  might  not  be ; but  this  I am  sure 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


145 


of — if  duty  is  all  there  is  in  the  case,  it  must 
be  a hard  position  for  any  one  to  occupy. 

It  takes  wisdom  to  discover  what  responsi- 
bilities to  assume  and  what  ones  to  disregard. 
It  is  easy  to  theorize,  but  we  are  all  occasion- 
ally confronted  by  conditions  that  we  cannot 
put  aside,  because  for  some  reasons  these  con- 
ditions are  our  own  to  meet  and  manage  to 
he  best  of  our  ability.  If  we  are  willing  to 
be  possessed  by  love  and  guided  by  wisdom 
we  shall  make  easy  work  of  things  that  at  first 
sight  seem  very  disagreeable.  Whatever  we 
make  a task  of  and  sigh  and  cry  because  we 
have  it  to  do,  is  a destroyer  of  health  and  a 
shortener  of  life.  If  we  would  grow  younger 
instead  of  older,  what  we  must  not  do  is  to 
load  ourselves  with  the  burdens  of  others.  It 
is  a hard  habit  to  break,  and  may  seem  to 
some  of  our  readers  like  very  heartless  advice. 
Old  things  must  pass  away,  and  old  habits 
must  be  broken.  This  is  the  only  way  to  in- 
sure health,  wealth,  happiness,  and  immortal- 
ity in  the  flesh.  Old  age  is  a foolish  phan- 
tom, which  intelligence  is  bound  to  chase  out 
of  existence. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


FOOD  AND  EXERCISE. 

In  the  present  condition  of  our  anatomical 
structures,  our  “houses  of  flesh,”  it  does  make 
a great  difference  to  health  and  life  what  kind 
of  food  we  eat  and  how  much.  This  state- 
ment will  he  contradicted  by  cranks,  but  it 
can  be  substantiated  by  facts,  and  this  is  more 
to  the  purpose. 

The  proper  thought  given  to  the  care  of 
our  bodies  will  ultimately  result  in  their  per- 
fection, and  this  perfecting  process  must  of 
a necessity  carry  us  away  from  the  crude, 
coarse,  and  cannibalistic  diet  that  has  so  long 
obtained.  It  is  heartening  to  know  that 
many  people  are  turning  naturally  away  from 
the  flesh  of  animals,  while  others  are  experi- 
menting with  the  atmosphere  as  the  source  of 
all  material  supply — the  very  substance  of 
God.  These  investigators  claim  that  they  can 


PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE.  I47 


accomplish  more  work  and  take  more  comfort 
on  an  air  diet  supplemented  by  whole  wheat 
(uncooked)  once  a day  with  fruit,  than  they 
ever  accomplished  or  enjoyed  in  all  the  days 
of  their  lives. 

These  trials  and  successes  are  beautiful 
prophecies  of  a condition  that  will  later  on 
become  general.  The  average  man  will 
not  subsist  on  atmosphere,  whole  wheat,  and 
fruit,  or  atmosphere  and  nuts,  but  the  happy 
medium  will  be  found  where  all  the  simple 
and  healthful  products  of  the  earth  will  be 
used  for  man’s  refining  sustenance. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  a 
month’s  diet  on  atmosphere  alone  would  be 
the  means  of  salvation  to  many  a hopeless 
soul.  It  would  not  add  to  the  weight  or  in- 
crease the  amount  of  adipose  tissue,  but  it 
would  give  nature  a chance  to  dispose  of  some 
of  the  surplus  material  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  so  much  discomfort.  Atmosphere 
does  not  have  to  be  cooked.  A little  more  of 
it  than  is  usually  taken  into  the  lungs  is  in- 
haled several  times  a day  by  certain  inspiring 
exercises,  which  open  the  pores,  feed  the  tis- 


148 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


sues,  and  bring  the  body  into  a condition  of 
health  and  grace.  These  exercises  are  not  in 
the  least  difficult  or  fatiguing,  and  can  be 
taken  in  connection  with  more  solid  food  than 
that  derived  from  the  atmosphere.  Those 
persons  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  calling 
themselves  “ very  old ” have  used  them  with 
the  greatest  benefit. 

“ Why  did  I not  know  of  these  helpful 
things  long  ago?”  a woman  of  seventy  in- 
quires. “ And  why  did  I not  know  that  my 
stomach  needed  a rest,  and  that  overeating 
was  the  cause  of  all  my  trouble?  I have  paid 
doctor’s  bills  to  the  amount  of  thousands  of 
dollars,  and  not  a single  medical  adviser, 
either  here  or  abroad,  ever  hinted  that  I ate 
too  much.  Dietary  changes  have  been  pre- 
scribed, it  is  true,  such  as  an  exclusive  diet  of 
meat  or  a preponderance  of  milk,  etc.,  but 
this  is  all.  The  first  question  always  was, 
How  is  your  appetite?  ‘You  must  eat  to  keep 
up  your  strength,  and  three  meals  a day  are 
absolutely  essential.’  All  the  time  I was 
putting  on  flesh,  and  at  last  became  so  heavy 
that  I had  the  greatest  difficulty  to  move  out 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


I49 


of  my  chair.  But  still  it  was  eat,  eat,  eat. 
At  last  in  despair  I took  up  the  study  of  men- 
tal science  and  became  greatly  interested  in 
it.  Never  before  had  I suspected  that  it  was 
possible  for  me  to  say  no  and  yes  to  my  body. 
Oh,  it  was  a sublime  revelation  when  that 
knowledge  flashed  upon  me!  Just  then  a 
friend  sent  me  your  ‘Perpetual  Youth,’  and 
that  helped  me  to  gird  on  the  armor  and  fight 
the  battle  out.  I stopped  thinking  about  my 
age  and  all  the  years  I had  wasted,  and 
started  in  to  do  my  best.  But  what  was  I to 
do  with  this  mountain  of  undesirable  flesh? 
Ah,  that  was  a momentous  question.  That 
something  could  be  done  I had  no  doubt,  but 
what?  I consulted  a healer  and  put  myself 
under  her  care.  She  was  very  much  annoyed 
when  I spoke  of  diet  and  exercise.  The  pro- 
per mental  concentration  would  do  the  work, 
she  said.  All  that  I needed  to  do  was  to 
think  that  I had  no  more  flesh  than  was  desir- 
able, and  that  I was  absolutely  free  from 
every  disturbing  condition.  I reread  ‘Per- 
petual Youth,’  and  found  that  1 had  some- 
thing to  do  for  myself  that  nobody  on  God’s 


150  THE  PREVENTION  AND 

earth  could  do  for  me.  It  was  to  use  my 
mind  in  an  entirely  different  manner.  I was 
— as  you  so  tersely  put  it  in  your  poem — to 
‘get  up  or  get  out.’  I got  up.  I instituted 
my  own  fast,  and  lived  on  atmosphere  alone 
for  twenty-two  days.  The  first  three  days  my 
stomach  cried  out  bitterly,  and  I had  all  I 
could  do  to  keep  from  humoring  it.  The  rest 
of  the  time  I was  perfectly  comfortable.  I 
took  the  required  exercise  and  slept  like  a 
baby.  I dropped  about  a pound  of  flesh  a 
day.  I should  have  continued  this  fast  longer 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  solicitude  of  my 
family.  For  three  months  since  I have  eaten 
one  good  meal  each  day,  twelve  o’clock  being 
the  hour  that  pleases  me  best.  I can  wait  un- 
til one  or  later  with  perfect  ease  if  necessary. 
This  meal  is  varied  by  means  of  vegetable 
soups,  beans,  peas,  asparagus,  and  other 
vegetables,  fruits,  nuts,  cereals,  whole  wheat 
bread,  ice  cream,  and  many  other  perfectly 
healthful  articles  of  diet.  I am  now  of  nor- 
mal weight,  energetic,  healthy,  happy,  and 
useful.  I have  no  age,  to  speak  of,  in  these 
days. 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


15  I 

“ If  I desired  two  or  even  three  meals  a day  I 
should  eat  them,  but  I do  not  need  or  care  for 
any  more  food  than  this  midday  meal  pro- 
vides. In  conclusion,  I will  say  that  I do  not 
believe  the  combined  efforts  of  all  the  healers 
on  this  planet  would  have  delivered  me 
from  the  grievous  burden  I was  carrying,  as 
I delivered  myself  by  my  own  peculiar  mental 
concentration,  /breathed,  /walked,  /ex- 
ercised. / said  to  my  body,  / am  your  mis- 
tress. You  have  no  other  in  the  universe.  1 
fasted,  and  / am  free. 

“ I have  told  you  these  things  because  of 
my  desire  to  help  others.  Do  strive  to  im- 
press people  with  this  truth — the  biggest 
truth  that  was  ever  told — that  they  must 
largely  do  their  own  work,  and  that  most  of 
them  are  committing  hourly  suicide  by  over- 
eating and  by  eating  improper  food.  Sev- 
eral of  my  friends  have  come  into  the  most 
wonderful  harmony  by  following  my  example, 
and  the  work  is  going  on  beautifully.  There 
is  no  need  of  helplessness,  of  sickness,  of 
poverty,  of  old  age  and  death.  This  I know.” 

Such  accounts  as  the  above  are  constantly 


152 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


received  at  this  office.  This  one  was  chosen 
to  print  because  of  its  comprehensiveness, 
and  because  the  writer  was  on  the  so-called 
“ elderly  ” list. 

Then  the  communications  from  women  who 
have  spent  their  lives  catering  to  appetite 
and  cooking  the  food  for  their  families. 
Some  of  these  would  bring  tears  from  a stone. 
The  tired-to-death  farmer’s  wives  with  their 
three  meals  a day  and  five-o’clock  breakfasts, 
to  say  nothing  of  washing  and  ironing  and 
scrubbing.  Now  there  never  was  any  legiti- 
mate reason  for  all  this  drudgery.  One  meal 
a day  could  well  have  been  spared  and  the 
others  so  simplified  as  to  make  life  a delight 
instead  of  a torture. 

“ I knew  two-thirds  of  the  people  whose 
bodies  are  in  this  cemetery,”  said  a physi- 
cian, who  had  studied  causes,  to  a visitor  as 
they  passed  this  place  of  weeping  willows  and 
marble  headstones.  “ And  the  majority  of 
them  are  women  who  cooked  themselves  into 
their  graves,  and  men  who  ate  the  stuff  the 
women  prepared.  There  are  a few  children 
here,  and  a few — a very  few — persons  who 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


153 

lived  to  be  old  in  spite  of  their  stuffing ; but  I 
always  call  this  the  cemetery  of  amazing  stu- 
pidity. Perhaps  these  places  are  all  alike.  I 
guess  they  are,  but  you  see  I know  this  one.” 
This  reminds  me  of  the  story  of  the  Maine 
woman  who  was  found  weeping  one  day  by  a 
neighbor. 

“ What  is  the  matter?  ” her  friend  inquired. 

“Vittles  is  the  matter,”  was  the  sobbing 
response. 

“Why,  you  ain’t  wanting  anything,  be 
you?”  said  her  companion.  “I  allers 
thought  you  had  vittles  enough.” 

“Vittles  enough?  I should  say  so.  When 
I think  of  the  vittles  I have  cooked  for  that 
man  ” — pointing  to  a stalwart  figure  mowing 
in  the  field — “how  many  vittles  I’ve  cooked 
for  that  man  to  gormandize,  I’m  sick  as  a 
dog.  And  when  I think  of  all  the  vittles 
I’ve  got  to  cook,  I’m  ready  to  lay  down  and 
die.” 

We  meet  these  miserable  creatures  at  every 
turn,  and  there  is  not  a very  great  difference 
between  the  women  who  cook  for  the  men 
folks  on  a farm  and  the  wife  of  the  million- 


154 


THE  PREVENTION  AND 


aire,  who,  though  relieved  from  domestic 
drudgery,  still  has  the  responsibility  of  “ vit- 
tles  ” upon  her  mind.  The  chef  may  be  up  to 
date,  but  the  claim  of  her  guests  upon  her 
hospitality  cannot  be  relegated  to  another. 
And  these  women  fade,  grow  old,  and  die  just 
like  their  country  sisters. 

To  prevent  old  age  one  must  have  wisdom 
concerning  the  management  of  the  stomach. 
If  every  other  necessary  thing  is  attended  to 
and  that  organ  is  ignorantly  treated,  the 
result  will  still  be  decay  and  death.  It  would 
not  take  long  to  destroy  the  best  locomotive 
engine  that  ever  was  made  if  part  of  its  fuel 
consisted  of  gravel  and  coal-dust,  with  occa- 
sional stones  and  pieces  of  glass.  A certain 
amount  of  steam  could  be  generated  by  means 
of  the  proper  coal  that  was  furnished  it,  but 
smooth  and  fast  running  would  be  out  of  the 
question. 

Smooth  and  fast  walking,  to  say  nothing  of 
running,  is  impossible  to  the  obese  person. 
Obesity  is  the  sure  precursor  of  old  age. 
Obesity  is  heaviness,  and  heaviness  is 
death.  Every  human  being  can  cure  this 


CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 


155 


condition.  There  is  no  more  need  of  remain- 
ing in  it  than  there  is  of  floundering  round  in 
a muddy  puddle  because  one,  through  lack  of 
light,  has  stumbled  into  it.  One  may  call 
the  doctor  and  cry,  “See  here,  I am  in  this 
horrid  hole  and  I know  not  how  to  get  out ! ” 
It  will  not  avail.  One  may  sit  there  till 
doomsday — ’doomsday  will  surely  come — and 
there  will  be  nothing  to  do  except  to  relax  a 
little  more  and  allow  the  dirt  to  cover  one 
entirely. 

Our  minds  are  ours  to  govern  our  bodies. 
It  is  possible  to  split  a great  many  hairs  right 
here,  and  declare  that  mind  is  all,  and  that 
our  bodies  are  crude  mind,  and  so  on  and  on 
into  the  deepest  and  darkest  realms  of  meta- 
physics. The  statement  is,  however,  a true 
one  in  the  largest  sense.  Our  bodies  are  ex- 
actly what  our  minds  have  made  them.  In  so 
far  as  our  minds  are  enlightened,  our  bodies 
are  satisfactory.  In  so  far  as  our  minds  are 
ignorant,  our  bodies  are  unsatisfactory. 

There  is  a great  deal  to  undo  and  more  to 
do  in  this  work  of  constant  rebuilding.  But 
we  have  all  the  time  there  is,  and  there  is  no 


156  PREVENTION  AND  CURE  OF  OLD  AGE. 

occasion  for  hurry,  though  there  is  great  need 
of  industry  and  perseverance. 

“ Man  does  not  live  on  bread  alone,  but 
upon  every  word  that  proceedeth  from  the 
mouth  of  God.”  This  is  a truth  which  has 
never  been  very  clearly  understood,  but  we 
are  just  waking  up  to  a knowledge  of  it.  It 
means  that  man  may  be  largely  fed  and  nour- 
ished by  his  own  divine  thought.  The  failure 
to  understand  this  has  been  the  cause  of  much 
misery. 

We  must  realize  our  power  to  direct  our 
own  lives.  Out  of  this  realization  freedom  is 
born.  To  know  that  we  are  the  arbiters  of 
our  own  destinies,  and  can  live  in  these  bodies 
comfortably,  usefully,  and  as  long  as  we 
please,  is  to  “ arise  and  shine  and  give  God  the 
glory.” 

Old  age  and  death  are  the  colossal  lies  of 
the  centuries.  It  is  for  us  at  the  close  of  this 
century  to  speak  the  Truth. 


GET  UP  OR  GET  OUT! 


You’ve  got  to  get  up,  or  you’ve  got  to  get  outf 
You  can’t  lie  there  in  a heap, 

With  doctors  and  nurses  poking  about, 

And  bromides  to  put  you  to  sleep. 

You’ve  got  to  get  up  in  your  soul  of  souls 
And  realize  what  you  are — 

A free-born  child  of  the  universe, 

Perfection  your  polar  star. 

You’ve  got  to  get  up,  or  you  ve  got  to  get  out! 

You  can’t  sit  there  and  boo-hoo, 

Because  your  friend  has  gone  from  your  sight, 

Or  the  world  has  gone  back  on  you. 

The  law  of  momentum  will  carry  you  down, 
When  you  once  start  the  train  that  way  ; 

But  when  you  reverse,  it  will  carry  you  up  ; 

It  is  only  for  you  to  say. 

You’ve  got  to  get  up,  or  you’ve  got  to  get  out  ! 

You  can’t  be  saved  by  your  tears, 

Nor  by  praying  to  God  to  ease  your  pain. 

It’s  been  tried  for  thousands  of  years — 

And  the  pain  is  still  here,  and  the  tears  still  flow, 
And  so  they’ll  continue  to  do 
Until  you  look  into  your  soul  and  know 
That  your  God  is  at  home  in  you. 

You’ve  got  to  get  up,  or  you’ve  got  to  get  out ! 

And  the  work  is  your  very  own  ; 

There  is  no  one  to  hinder  and  few  who  can  help  ; 

You’re  a unit  and  stand  alone. 

But  the  God  in  yourself  is  mighty  to  raise, 

When  you  realize  what  you  are — 

A free-born  child  of  the  universe, 

Perfection  your  polar  star. 


Eleanor  Kirk^ 


THE  INFLUENCE 


°N  ZODIAC  UPON 
HUMAN  LIFE 


BY 

ELEANOR  KIRK 

The  volume  by  the  above  title  is  the  only  simpli- 
fied astrological  work  in  the  world.  All  other  books 
on  this  subject  are  involved,  abstruse,  and  mathe- 
matical. In  this  book  the  solutions  are  given  instead 
of  the  sums. 

For  those  who  are  desirous  of  understanding  them- 
selves, of  discovering  the  causes  and  the  cures  for 
glaring  faults  and  puzzling  idiosyncrasies,  who  are 
anxious  to  know  in  what  particular  line  their  talents 
lie,  and  how  they  can  succeed  spiritually,  morally, 
and  financially,  this  volume  is  a key  that  unlocks  the 
door  to  valuable  treasures. 

For  those  who  desire  congenial  marital  relations, 
who  wish  above  all  things  to  choose  wisely,  and  for 
those  who  would  find  a reason  and  a cure  for  the 
miseries  of  their  married  lot,  “ The  Influence  of  the 
Zodiac  upon  Human  Life”  will  prove  a friend  in  need. 

One  has  only  to  know  the  month  and  day  of  his  or 
her  birth  to  find  every  virtue,  talent,  fault,  and  incon- 
sistency clearly  depicted,  with  a panacea  for  the 
troublesome  conditions,  and  a way  of  developing  every 
mental  attribute. 

This  book  shows  the  way  of  overcoming,  the  way 
to  bring  up  children,  the  way  to  make  money,  and 
to  secure  such  positions  as  suit  the  talent  or  the 
genius  of  the  individual.  It  gives  the  governing 
planets,  the  gems,  and  astral  colors  of  every  native. 
Its  price  is  $1.00. 

...FIFTEENTH  EDITION... 


ELEANOR  KIRK, 


LIBRA 


OR  WHAT  THE  STARS 

TOLD  ELIZABETH 

* ★ ★ ★ ★ 


A companion  book  to  “ The  Influence 
of  the  Zodiac  upon  Human  Life  A 


The  principal  characters  in  this  romance  are  Libra  and  Cap- 
ricorn— the  former  a young  October  woman,  born  in  the  middle 
sign  of  the  air  triplicity ; the  latter  a young  man  born  in  January, 
*he  last  sign  of  the  earth  triplicity.  This  combination  gives  the 
author  abundant  scientific  material  from  which  to  weave  a most 
fascinating  and  attractive  story. 

Richly  bound  in  cloth,  stamped  on  cover  with  the  Libra 
colors ; a beautiful  and  artistic  volume.  Sent  by  mail  on  receipt 
of  price,  $1.00. 

Address  ELEANOR  KIRK,  Author 
696  Greene  Avenue,  - - “Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


THE  BOTTOM  PLANK  OF  MENTAL  BF.AI.1NC 

By  ELEANOR  KIRK 

This  book  is  said  to  be  the  simplest  exposition  of  the  basic  prin- 
ciples of  spiritual  healing  ever  published.  It  has  healed  many 
people. 

Paper,  25  cents.  696  Greene  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


INFORMATION  FOR  AUTHORS  \ZTLT 

PRICE,  $i.oo. 

A book  full  of  points  for  those  who  desire  to  write  for  the 
press,  but  who  are  unfamiliar  with  editorial  requirements.  Every 
possible  need  of  every  writer  is  met  in  this  volume,  and  proof- 
reading is  perfectly  taught. 


PERPETDAL  YOHTH. By 


ELEANOR  KIRK 

SIXTH  EDITION 


Deals  with  the  right  and  ability  of  every  human  being  to 
secure  abiding  vitality  here  and  now,  without  stint  or  limit.  It 
substitutes  life  for  death,  health  for  disease,  wealth  for  poverty. 

BOUND  IN  CLOTH.  PRICE,  $1.00 

Address  ELEANOR  KIRK,  696  Greene  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


ELEANOR  KIRK’S  IDEA 

Publication 

This  journal  is  published  for  the  sake  of  making 
people  healthy  and  happy. 

Where  there  is  happiness  there  is  always  health. 

It  introduces  the  reader  to  himself,  making  him 
acquainted  with  his  own  God,  resident  in  his  own 
breast,  and  equal  to  the  work  of  overcoming  all 
things. 

It  strikes  a clear  and  triumphant  note  for  indi- 
viduality and  steadfastly  preaches  the  doctrine  of 
looking  at  home  for  guidance,  realizing  the  truth 
of  the  Christ  statement,  “ The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  within  you.” 

Eleanor  Kirk’s  Idea  is  fearless  and  uncom- 
promising. Its  motto  is  ‘‘Truth,  not  Tradition; 
Principle,  not  Prejudice.” 

Price,  $i  per  year.  Sample  copies  free. 

...ADDRESS... 

ELEANOR  KIRK’S  IDEA,  696  Greene  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Gumption  Cards  NE0RK3INAL 

1 RECIPES 

...By  ELEANOR  KIRK... 

Price y 10  Cents 

Perfect  soups  without  meat,  in  which  the  flavor 
and  stimulus  of  meat  are  not  missed. 
Progressive  dishes  to  match  the  progressive 
times. 

Healthful  salads,  desserts,  etc.,  etc. 

Every  dish  created  or  perfected  and  used  by 

Eleanor  Kirk,  696  Greene  Ave., 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


WHERE 
YOU  ARE 


A Book 
for  Girls 

BY 

ELEANOR  KIRK 


... PRICE , 25  CENTS ... 


In  all  the  spiritual  science  literature  that  has  been  so  carefully 
prepared  for  adults  there  has  been  very  little  that  was  adapted 
to  the  young. 

“Where  You  Are  ” takes  the  girls  out  of  the  beaten,  mo- 
notonous tracks  of  life  and  introduces  them  to  the  universe 
where  they  belong. 

This  book  is  declared  by  the  competent  to  be  just  as  helpful 
and  inspiring  to  old  girls  as  young  ones.” 


Address  ELEANOR  KIRK,  696  Greene  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


The  True  Science  of  Living  " ™F""a™„s 

By  EDWARD  HOOKER  DEWEY,  M.D 
Introduction  by  Rev.  GEORGE  F PENTECOST,  D D 


A New  Era  for  Woman  “r- HBALTH  „T, 

BY  SAME  AUTHOR 

Introduction  by  ALICE  McCLELLAN  BIRNEY 
President  of  the  National  Congress  of  Mothers 


These  books  contain  the  Key  to  Perfect  Health.  They  explain  the 
cause  of  all  disease,  and  give  the  cure  without  drugs,  or  any  treatment  involving 
expense.  Publishers’  Guarantee:  Any  person  purchasing  these  books,  and 
after  adopting  the  system  and  following  it  for  thirty  days,  does  not  realize  a satis- 
factory improvement  in  health,  may  return  them  and  we  will  refund  the  money. 
References  as  to  the  above  guarantee.  F S Jerome,  First  National  Bank, 
Norwich,  Conn.;  N.  L.  Bishop,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Norwich,  Conn. 

PRICES 

“The  True  Science  of  Living.”....  Linen  $225  Buckram  $2.50 

“A  New  Era  for  Woman.” “ 1 25  ‘ 1 50 

FORWARDED  TO  ANY  ADDRESS,  CARRIAGE  PREPAID,  ON  RECEIPT  OF  PRICE 

Address  ELEANOR  KIRK,  696  Greene  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N Y. 


The  Celebrated  Depilatory  Stone 

FOR  THE 

Removal  of  Superfluous  Hair  from  Face,  Arms,  and 
Hands  Without  the  Slightest  Irritation  or 
Injury  to  the  Skin. 

Having  acted  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  these  stones  for  live  years,  and  having 
sold  thousands  of  them  through  the  mail  and  personal  application,  up  to  date, 
without  complaints  from  users,  I have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  their  use 
to  all  those  afflicted  with  superfluous  hirsute  growth 

PRICE,  50  CENTS  BY  MAIL 


Address  MJ gg  M Q ANDERSON 

BUREAU  OF  PURCHASE 


588  Throop  Avenue 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


HEALTH  - BEAUTY 

MISS  L.  J.  LEAVENS  “MIRABELLE” 

44  West  22 d Street,  New  York 

'J'HIS  lady  is  indorsed  by  all  her  patients  as  a true 
mental  science  operator.  She  heals  the  inner  and 
irradiates  the  outer.  She  shows  the  way  to  health  and 
happiness,  and  brings  forth  strength  and  beauty  by  her 
own  inimitable  facial  manipulation. 

CONSULTATION  FREE 

MME.  MANDWELL’S  COCOALINE  CREAM. 

This  excellent  cream  for  the  face  and  hands  always 
gives  perfect  satisfaction.  It  is  as  good  to  soften 
wrinkles  as  it  is  to  heal  chapped  lips  and  skm.  Black- 
heads and  pimples  are  not  possible  when  this  cream  is 
steadily  used. 

Mme.  Mandwell’s  powder  for  adults  and  infants 
is  heartily  indorsed  by  physicians  and  very  popular 
with  the  dramatic  profession.  Cream,  35  cents  per 
small  box;  $1.00  per  jar.  Powder,  35  cents  per 
box.  Address  Miss  M.  G.  Anderson,  588  Throop 
Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


VLSI 


HOTEL 


Irving  Place  and  16th  Street 

ONE  BLOCK  EAST  OF  UNION  SQUARE 


I.  D.  CRAWFORD 

Proprietor 


...NEW  YORK 


EUROPEAN  PLAN.... 

$1.00 

PER  DAY 
AND 

UPWARDS 


AMERICAN  PLAN... 

$3.50 

PER  DAY 

AND 

UPWARDS 


